Mirai Shinobi
by King Archangel
Summary: After an accident with the Time Machine, Trunks and Bulma are sent into the world of shinobi. Will the two make this new world their home? Or return to the destroyed world of their own? (Story Challenge by SparkinClark) -Features a 14yo Future Trunks-Starts during the beginning of the series- Eventual TrunksXIno NaruHina SasuSaku ((I NERFED DBZ, DO NOT MENTION IT!))
1. Warped

A/N: What's up readers! This is me attempting a challenge from NaitoOni93. I feel that the, Gohan goes to Konoha-Gohan becomes a shinobi-Gohan is an overpowered bad ass, thing has been done to its fullest. So 's challenge gives me a chance to try something a little different. Lets see how this goes!

Xxxxxx

"Hey mom, where did you say the monkey wrench was again?" A teens voice called from inside a yellow dome building.

A woman with blue hair tied in a loose ponytail, was outside screwing in some bolts to a tall yellow machine. The machine looked similar to an airplane, with yellow turbines connected all around it, and a single seated glass dome at the top. It had several opened sections to it, showing off a series of wires and cords to the inside of the machines body.

The woman stood up, wiping sweat from her brow before calling back in an annoyed voice, "Like I said before honey, it's in the toolbox under my work table." She picked up a rag and used it to wipe the grime and dirt from her face. She took a second to turn and gaze out over the ruins of what was once a sprawling city. 'It'll all be over soon.' She thought sadly.

It'd been fourteen long and horrible years since Son Goku died, only for things to get _much_ worse when Dr. Gero's terrible creations surfaced. The Androids have made it their hobby to hunt down and kill every living human they encountered, even going as far as to slaughter the Z-Warriors. One of them being her own husband. With no one being left to stand up to the two cyborgs, the world's population has been reduced to a mere third of what it was before, and all remaining humans had gone into hiding. The machine that she was building, might have been their only hope at bringing their world peace.

She turned when she heard the back door open, and smiled when she saw the only pride and joy she had left. A fourteen year old boy with blue eyes and lavender hair in a curtained haircut, the hair of which he let fall in front of his left eye. The teen also wore a white long sleeved capsule corp. shirt, and grey sweatpants, with a sword fastened behind his back. He brought with him a giant silver wrench.

"Here's the wrench you were looking for mom." The teen handed it to his mother.

"Thanks sweetie." She took the wrench and went back to working on the machine.

Trunks took a seat on a supply box and boredly watched his mother work. "You know mom, I still think this a big waste of time. What makes you think it would be possible to _travel through time_?"

Bulma chuckled at her son's young ignorance, "You know son, people used to say stuff just like that to your Grandfather when he invented capsules. And what do you know, we became the richest people in the world because of it."

"Yeah, but a capsule and a time machine don't go hand in hand. Besides, I don't think I'll need a bunch of dead people from the past to help with the androids. I'm a super saiyan now incase you forgot."

"Incase _you_ forgot, so was Gohan, Trunks. And not only was he a super saiyan, but he had _thirteen_ years as one backing him up."

At the mention of his fallen master, the teens face became downcast. It had been one whole year since Gohan was killed by Androids #17 and #18.

Bulma sympathised with her son, he was still mourning over his master and best friends loss. "I know you miss him Trunks, I do too. But think of it this way sweetheart, you going back to the past gives you the chance to see him again."

That brightened up the saiyans mood. He nodded and said, "Kay mom. Thanks."

After a few hours of extra work, Bulma managed to put together the necessary components of the time machine. She let out a tired breath, and a triumphant smile crossed her lips. "Well, it took forever, but the T.M Mark 1 is finally done!" The woman checked her watch. "And it's only a quarter past three!" Meaning she only worked for about six hours that day.

Trunks walked up next to his mom, anticipated smile on his face. "So the Time Machines finally done?"

Bulma dusted her hands, "Hmm, not exactly. _This_ is just a prototype. I'm gonna have to run some tests on it for safety precautions and functionality." She pointed to a giant red mechanical box that all the wires flowed from the time machine flowed into. It was a fair distance away. "Go power up the generator, I need to give it a run."

The son of Vegeta walked over to the alternator, flipping a few switches and watching as it revved to life, sputtering a few times but staying on. It also gave off the strong musk of gasoline. He watched as a few electronic beeps from the time machine began to resound, making his mother whoop and almost leap up and down in joy. He smiled for a moment before his eyes widened at the sight of electricity popping out of the machine. Bulma covered her eyes as the flashes got brighter. The air got warmer as the machine got much more volatile, parts of it exploding in white flashes, smoke, and heavy static.

Bulma let out a cry as a shock wave knocked her on her rear. She gasped in horror as she noticed the state of the machine.

It was gonna explode.

"MOM!" Trunks shouted as he sprinted as fast as his saiyan body would take him to protect his mother.

The teen leaped on top of her just as the machine exploded, shielding her from the blast. A searing pain covered Trunks body as he took the blast full force. An electric sting could be felt on every square inch of him, making him cry out in agonizing pain. It almost felt like he was turning into a super saiyan again.

All there was in his vision was a blinding light. He knew that if he didn't go blind after this it would be a miracle. A voice in the back of his head gave him clarity. At least his mother was safe.

When the explosion ended, the time machine was completely obliterated, leaving nothing left of it in existence. Only, there was something else wrong.

The Briefs were gone as well. West City didn't have a single human being left in it.

XXXXXXX

The streets of the Hidden Leaf were bustling with people. It was a beautiful star filled night and the village illuminated with lights as children ran through the streets with their friends, couples went on a romantic stroll, and other people went to the various stores present in the shopping district. It wasn't a festival, or even a special occasion. Just a lively night where people enjoyed themselves.

Atop various buildings, cloaked figures stood overlooking their village, ready to kill or arrest anything that permitted them to. These were the shinobi.

At the center of the village, where people were the most active, violent winds began to pick up, creating a sense of disarray among the villagers. Shinobi began to move in closer to get a view of the phenomena. Suddenly, a small orb flashed into existence with a flare of electricity. As the orb started to flash brighter and grow larger, electricity began to violently shoot out of it, zapping nearby buildings. A few shinobi moved in to try to keep the villagers at bay. Some unlucky individuals got struck and were severely injured. When the orb grew as big as it could get, it began to take a metallic appearance, reflecting its surroundings and the civilians off of it.

There was a moment of silence among the people as they watched the light show die down and the electricity stop flowing. The sphere began to get more translucent, causing the shinobi to step up closer, cautiously. Some pulled kunai and others had their hands ready to summon a jutsu.

When the sphere completely dissipated, the last thing they expected to see was an injured teenage boy on top of an older woman, obviously his mother, in a crater left by the orb. The boys shirt and pants were singed with holes and he had burn scars on his face and hands. The woman they noticed had taken considerably less physical damage, but was still unconscious. The shinobi could tell that the boy had been trying to protect his mother from whatever it was that sent him there.

"What the hell?" A ninja said in disbelief, also voicing what was going through everyone else's mind.

The boy's breathing was pained and ragged. He couldn't bring himself to move from his mother, still feeling that they were in danger. Trunks could feel several dozen eyes staring hard at him, but the muscles in his body were too locked up to move. He could only look down at his mothers injured and unconscious face, which pained him even more. He couldn't feel her energy.

Trunks weakly let out, "M-mom...please..no...someone...help." He himself was losing consciousness. His vision fading to black as the sound of various footsteps approached him.

XXXXXX

The Hokage was in the Konoha hospital, standing, pipe in mouth, as doctors hastily pushed two beds passed him to the ER. Hiruzen received word in detail fairly quickly when he heard of the incident. The old man couldn't seem to catch a break as he spent the entire day doing paperwork, only to have several shinobi practically kick his door in to tell him about two people practically warping into existence.

A man with white hair and most of his face covered, save for his right eye, walked up next to Sarutobi, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Kakashi, have you received word on the visitors?" Sarutobi asked, not looking at the man, but automatically knowing who it was.

The man had a lazy tone in his voice, "Although the boy appears to have taken most of the physical damage from whatever attacked them, the woman appears to be in the more life threatening condition."

The old man raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Were there any clues left behind as to what could have brought them here?"

Kakashi slowly shook his head, "No. But we were able to recover a sword strapped to the boys back, and from the woman," Kakashi pulled out a small tray and handed it to the Hokage, "a tray full of small white devices."

The hokage opened the tray to see nine tiny white pods, each had a different number on it, and a small piece of paper telling what each number was for. Hiruzen also noticed the strange blue 'C' engraved on the top of the tray. Deciding it was all a bit too much for him to wrap his mind around at the moment, Hiruzen handed the tray back to Kakashi, and made his way to the ER that the boy and the woman were at, followed by Kakashi.

Sarutobi stood outside the room, watching as the doctors wrapped gauze around the injured parts of the boy's body, also slipping a breathing tube down his throat before focusing more attention on the woman's injuries, her's being more serious.

For a second the boy's eyes fluttered open, seeing his mother being tended to by the doctors, whom seemed to be rushing and uncertain.

"M-m-moth-er…" Trunks mumbled out, his arm slowly reaching out to her. One of the doctors noticed and attempted to inject the teen with an anesthetic syringe to put him unconscious. Only, the needle broke off on his skin.

"How the-?" The doctor asked himself, but saw the boy lose consciousness on his own accord. The doctor didn't have a chance to dwell on how the boys skin was needleproof, as he was called to grab more gauze by the other doctors to tend to the woman.

One doctor noticed the Hokage outside the room, and approached him. He bowed before speaking, "Lord Hokage, we know for a fact that the boy will be Ok. He'll be back up in a few days and ready for questioning then."

Kakashi spoke up for the Hokage, "What about the woman?"

"We're still unsure. She's in critical condition, and she'll likely be out for several days, maybe even a few weeks if she's unlucky." The doctor spoke.

The Hokage took a puff on his pipe, thinking things over.

The doctor spoke up again, "Please Lord Hokage, it's late. Get some sleep. We'll inform you of their condition tomorrow." The doctor hurried back into the medical room.

Hiruzen took another look at the injured boy and mother, before turning and moving to walk out of the hospital. Kakashi watched the Hokage leave, but stayed to watch the boy who seemed to be fighting to wake back up.

XXXX

A/N: Alright, first chapter down! I'm think I'm gonna write this chapter back to back with Hybrid of the Hidden Leaf. Now, I want this story to be a lot more tame than I made H.o.t.H.L, so I'm gonna try and avoid writing lemons in it. (Unless you guys want them). Also, don't forget, this is a story challenge, meaning that I'm playing by NaitoOni's rules. I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as I will writing it. So, let me know you're honest opinions through a review, I love knowing your thoughts!


	2. Explanation's

A/N: I really love the feedback I got on the last chapter. Lets hope that this chapter is just as enjoyable.

XXX

Hiruzen was in his office, painting a black kanji on a large white opened scroll. It was mid-day and one of the few days that he actually got a break from paperwork, so he figured he might as well spend it doing something he enjoyed. His morning would have been perfect had he not had to deal with that trouble-making prankster of a godson, who saw fit to pour yellow food coloring into the hot springs. The old man chuckled. No matter how badly Naruto Uzumaki got under his skin, he still loved the boy like a grandson.

The door to his office opened, revealing a doctor and a nurse. The two bowed before the doctor spoke up, "Lord Hokage, the boy is regaining consciousness. He can be interrogated whenever you see fit." Hiruzen nodded.

XXX

Trunks could slowly feel his body again, although he had yet to open his eyes. He could feel something wrapped around his arms, legs, and parts of his face. The teen assumed they were bandages. He slowly opened his eyes to notice he was indeed in a hospital room. The saiyan attempted to sit up only to feel a soreness in his torso and arms, making him grunt in pain.

"I wouldn't move too fast if I were you. Especially with those injuries." Trunks looked to his right to see a man leaning against a wall reading a book. The man had spiky silver hair that was forced up due to his headband, that the saiyan could see had an odd swirly symbol that resembled a leaf. The man also wore a mask that covered his face up to his nose and kept his headband down at an angle that covered his left eye.

'How did I not sense him?' Trunks thought to himself. He had no idea where he was, or who this man was, so he decided that it was better to keep his mouth shut.

Excusing the boys silence, Kakashi continued, not taking his eyes off his book, "So, you wanna tell me about...whatever that was three nights ago?"

Trunks looked down at his bedsheets, deep in thought, 'C-could the time machine have really worked? Or...is this _more_ than time travel?' The saiyan looked at the masked man. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Kakashi shrugged, "Try me." He stopped reading his book when he saw the teen sigh.

Trunks lied back in the bed, a blank look on his face that read that what he was saying was pointless, "Would you believe me, If I told you my mom made a time machine, and it backfired and sent us here?"

Kakashi gave him a pointed look, "Ok."

Trunks raised a questionable eyebrow, "Ok? You actually believe what I just said?"

Kakashi wordlessly put his book away before turning to walk out the room, "Yeah, I do." He said before he closed the door, leaving Trunks in a questionable gape. Just outside the door was Sarutobi and a man with blonde hair tied in a ponytail.

"So, what did he say?" Sarutobi asked.

Kakashi crossed his arms, a look in his eye showing that he couldn't believe what he heard, but had no choice but to accept it, "He told the truth. Had you not had Inoichi here scan the woman's memories I wouldn't have believed it."

The blonde man nodded. He had his arms crossed and was leaned against a wall, "Yeah. I couldn't believe it myself when I saw it, but those two are definitely not of this world."

The Hokage pinched the space between his brow, it was rare that the old man didn't have a solution to something, and in this instance it was stressing him the hell out. He decided to walk into the medical room himself, alone.

When Trunks saw the old man walk into his room, he became nervous. The man was wearing a set of robes that obviously showed he meant some level of importance in whatever land this was, and the fact that he was injured showed that he was at these peoples mercy for the time being.

The man spoke, "Hello Trunks, my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. The leader of this village, the Hokage."

That one sentence alone was enough to fill Trunks with questions. The first one that came to mind was, "H-How do you know my name?"

The Hokage grinned, "We have our ways." He got serious again, "Now, I'm sure you want to know where you are," He pointed to the window on the right side of the room, which Trunks looked out, fascinated at what he saw, "this is Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I suppose you haven't heard of this have you?"

The saiyan shook his head, as expected by the Hokage.

The Saiyan looked to his left, eyes widening as he noticed his mother's bed missing. "H-hey, wh-where's my mother!?" The saiyans anticipation built up, thinking the worst as he sat up in bed, attempting to climb out of it. He grunted loudly in pain at his wounds.

The Hokage held up a hand to calm him, "You're mother's been moved to a separate room. She suffered severe injuries from your travel. She'll be fine, you don't have to worry."

The saiyan still pulled back his covers in an attempt to leave the bed, "I have to see her. I _have_ tosee for myself that she's ok." He ignored the pain that came with moving, but stopped in his tracks as the Hokage approached him. The old man put hands on his arms, and the saiyan could feel most of the pain fade away. Hiruzen repeated the process with the boys torso. Trunks found the pain having dulled out for a majority, but was still somewhat there.

"I've healed your wounds enough for you to move around, but you're going to have to give time for them to heal in full." Hiruzen stepped back, letting the boy climb out of bed.

"Thank you." Trunks said with a slight bow of his head. The teen noticed himself wearing a white medical gown, his original clothes having been removed.

The Hokage did a motion with his hand, "Follow me, I'll take you to her." The lavender haired boy followed behind the old man.

As he left the room, he saw two men giving him a cautious eye. One of them was the man he saw earlier, and another was a man with blonde hair tied in a ponytail. The saiyan also took notice of a few doctors giving him passing glances as he walked down the hallway. As they walked passed an ER, the saiyan could see several people wrapped up in fullbody casts and gauze. What little exposed flesh that they had appeared to be badly burned.

Trunks asked the Hokage, not taking his eyes off the injured people, "What happened to them?"

Hiruzen kept looking forward, but still spoke, "You're visit caused quite a few people to get seriously injured. Most in critical condition." Almost like he had eyes on the back of his head, Hiruzen could tell Trunks head was down in sorrow, "But they will live. That is certain." He attempted to cheer the boy up. It sort of worked.

As the two came to a stop at the window that peered inside Bulma's room, Trunks heart grew heavy, and tears started to burn his eyes as he noticed the full condition of his mother. There were at least three doctors in the room; one who had a clipboard, taking notes, another who was sorting medical equipment, and the third who was trashing the used equipment. Bulma had a breathing machine hooked up to her mouth and nose, and she had bandages on her arms and face, from what he saw. The rest of her body was under a blanket.

The saiyans hands were pressed against the window, "Mother...why." Tears started streaming down Trunks face. "God, why. She's all I have left. I _can't_ lose her too." He was starting to sob.

The Hokage gave the boy a look of sympathy, he placed his hand on his shoulder. "She will be fine. You're mother is in a mini-coma. She should wake up in a couple of weeks."

The saiyan wiped his eyes. "But what do I do now? I have nowhere to go."

Hiruzen gave the boy a warm, grandfatherly smile. "Well it's not within my character to let a boy sleep on the streets. Follow me to my office, I'll see about getting you a place to stay within the village."

"Wait, but, where are my clothes? And my-"

"Sword?" The Hokage finished. "You're clothes were ruined, and I've made sure your sword was kept safe in my office."

Trunks nodded, and proceeded to follow the Hokage out of the hospital. As the saiyan got a good look at the village architecture, he was fascinated. It wasn't the same metropolitan city that he was used to, with skyscrapers and flying cars and whatnot, but at least this place wasn't in ruins. The son of Vegeta could see the villagers giving him looks, some were fascinated, others were hateful glares, and some were whispering to each other, about him obviously.

The saiyan shook it off, knowing they did have good reason to be wary of him. Trunks took notice of them approaching a large red building located in the center of the village. The Hokage's building. The two approached a set of double doors guarded by two shinobi, who, at the sight of Trunks, became apprehensive. With a leveled hand from the Hokage, they calmed down. But still threw a glance at Trunks as he walked through the door.

The two walked up a flight of stairs, and into the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen took a seat at his desk, Trunks standing nervously out in front of him. The Hokage then reached under his table and pulled out Trunks sword, setting it out for the saiyan to take. "Now, I do want to ask you, Trunks" The third pulled out the silver tray from under his desk, making Trunks face brighten in familiarity. "What in the _world_ are these things?"

"The Capsules!" Trunks said brightly, 'Leave it to mom to always be prepared.' he thought.

"Capsules?" The third repeated, unfamiliar with the devices.

"Yeah, they allow you to store larger objects and carry them around with you."

The third raised an eyebrow, 'So their like sealing scrolls, but more convenient. How interesting.' Sarutobi laid the tray down which Trunks took. The saiyan opened it to read what all his mother brought with them;

A small house, a set of clothes, a week's worth of food, some tools and tech equipment, and one empty capsule. The saiyan smiled at the selection, 'I guess my mom always kept a spare house in case we had to evacuate West City. _Very_ smart move on her part.' Trunks took the clothes capsule and pushed the button, then tossed it. It exploded in white vapor, making the Hokage raise a curious eyebrow. Luckily he kept the door closed, or else Anbu would have been all over Trunks like piranhas in a feeding frenzy.

The old man was surprised to see a wardrobe appear. The saiyan opened it and wasn't too surprised to see it was mostly his mom's clothes. He got lucky to find another capsule corp. shirt similar to his old one, along with another pair of gray sweatpants. He looked into a bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of blue boots. He took his clothes and walked behind the wardrobe, getting dressed in his clothes. He looked the same as he did when he arrived here, his sleeves and pants covering his bandages. He had a piece of gauze taped to his cheek, the only noticeable bandage.

He tossed the capsule back to the wardrobe, sealing it and sticking it back in the tray that he then stuck in his pocket.

'Interesting indeed.' The Hokage thought. "Now, Trunks-kun, I take it you're a warrior of some kind?" The Hokage took in the boys build, it was slim, and highly in tone. Obviously that of a fighter. He also took note of the fact that the boy mostly recovered from a volatile journey, in a span of a few days. The fact that the boy was also carrying a sword was another big giveaway to the Fire Shadow.

Trunks responded with a slight shrug, "I guess you could say I'm something like that."

The Hokage asked Trunks, "Are you familiar with the concept of Chakra?"

Trunks raised a questionable eyebrow, "No, I'm not. But I assume it's what you use for energy here?"

The Hokage grinned, "Right you are, Trunks-kun. You see, Chakra is essential to even our most basic techniques. It requires a combination of life energy, otherwise known as Ki, and stamina. It allows us to use such abilities like walking on water, exhaling fire, or creating illusions."

"Oh," The saiyan started, "Well, where I come from we use our Ki alone." Trunks said casually.

The Hokage's eyes widened. "I-Impossible. One cannot simply use Ki on its own. That's you're _life energy!_ You'd die!"

Trunks raised an eyebrow and gave a smirk, "Wanna bet?" He raised his right hand up and formed a small yellow sphere of energy, shocking the Hokage.

"Incredible." The Hokage said in awe, "The ability to summon raw energy without the use of hand signs? Truly astounding."

The saiyan shrugged, "It was just a normal Ki ball, nothing special."

"Would you mind giving me another demonstration?" The Hokage asked.

The saiyan wordlessly let himself lift off the ground, floating up to where his head was close to the ceiling, making the old man's eye twitch in disbelief. 'U-Unbelievable, _this_ is what Ki can do for a person? The only known person who can fly is the Tsuchikage.' The Hokage shook himself out of his stupor.

"I take it not many people around here know how to fly?" Trunks asked, lowering back to the ground. The Hokage shook his head, prompting the saiyan to continue, "So would it not be possible for anyone here to learn Ki? I mean, I learned it while I was pretty young."

The Hokage slowly shook his head, "A shinobi's body is already adjusted to the use of Chakra. To learn Ki, would mean that a shinobi would have to unlearn what his body has been trained to do, and vice-versa. Imagine _un_ learning how to walk, speak, and ride a bicycle."

Trunks nodded in understanding. The Hokage leaned in, an excitedly curious look on his face

to ask, "Would you mind showing me some of its offensive abilities?"

Trunks looked around, taking in the small office space, "Uh, I don't know. Everything in here seems pretty valuable."

"Oh, but I insist." The Hokage pulled out a medium sized vase from his under his desk, making Trunks wonder, 'What all does he keep under that desk?', before the Hokage set the vase out in front of him.

"Just give me a small demonstration." The saiyan held out his hand, and faster than the Hokage could blink a flash of yellow came from the boys palm and disintegrated the vase.

The Hokage grinned, 'This boy could definitely be an asset to us. We _must_ have him in our ranks.' The Hokage leaned forward resting his chin on his closed hands. "How would you feel about becoming a shinobi?"

"A...shinobi? That's like a ninja right?" Trunks asked.

"Precisely!" The Hokage said heartily. "Shinobi are the villages main line of defense. As you work through the ranks, you will go from doing manual labour, to acting as escorts, gathering classified information, retrieving stolen items, and carrying out assassinations. In times of war, ninja will come together to defend our village."

Trunks rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know. I don't think I'm gonna be around for long. I'm not even supposed to be here now."

"Well how about this. As long as you stay in the village, you become a shinobi, and you will earn money for food, and other necessities. At least until you're mother wakes up, when she does, we will take things from there."

Trunks thought it over. These people _did_ help him and his mother, and he _was_ offering him space within the village while they continued to nurse his mother. He could at least return the favor by helping their people. "O-Okay. I'll do it." Trunks decided.

"Excellent. You will attend the academy first thing in the morning. Classes start at 8' sharp." Hiruzen pulled a scroll and tossed it to the saiyan, who opened it to see it was a map of the village. "Now, we need to see about finding you a place to stay." Trunks waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. Just point me in the direction of the nearest woods and I can take it from there."

The Hokage looked questionable, but came to the conclusion that the boy must have something tucked away in those 'capsules'. "Keep going east and you won't miss it."

Trunks bowed, "Thank you, sir." He said gratefully, not really knowing what to call the man.

"Just call me some variation of 'Hokage', everyone else does." The Hokage chuckled. Trunks nodded before he strapped his sword to his back, buckling the front. As he turned to leave, he heard Hiruzen call, "I expect to hear from you at the Academy tomorrow. I'll inform your teacher."

"No problem, I'll be there." Trunks said sincerely before walking out of the Hokage's building. As he walked out he noticed the two shinobi from earlier were still there. They watched him like a hawk as he walked past them, although they didn't say anything to him.

As the saiyan walked through the village, he could sense the villagers still staring at him, he looked up to see a few people giving him mean glares. He walked behind a nearby alley, looking to see if there was anyone following him before lifting off into the air. The saiyan made sure to stay above the buildings to take away more of the risk of someone seeing him.

Trunks made his way over the Konoha forests, and landed in them. The saiyan found a clearing that stood out, "I guess this is good enough to set up home." The saiyan pulled out the house capsule and activated it. It revealed a small, but livable, yellow capsule house. The saiyan smiled and walked inside. He noticed that it was neatly furnished, with a kitchen and two small bedrooms. It had everything to keep him accommodated. Trunks made his way to a bedroom and crashed down on the bed. He looked to the digital clock to his left and saw it read '7:49 pm.'. Knowing the time only made the saiyan more tired.

In seconds, he was out.

XXX

A/N: Pretty lame way to end the chapter, but it was already long enough as it is. Now, Trunks will be starting the Ninja Academy first thing next chapter, and thus will begin the start of the series. Pairings will remain a secret for now, and will start to reveal themselves later on. Although you are free to leave suggestions or guess what you think they'll be. All I have to say regarding this chapter, so, until next time, REVIEW!


	3. Academy

A/N: Chapter 3 up! I'm going to try my hardest not to make this chapter a rewrite of the academy chapter in H.o.t.H.L.

XXXXX

A meeting was being held in the Hokage's building during the night of the Leaf Village. None of the Village elders and clan heads appeared to appreciate being summoned at three o'clock in the freakin morning, but they all sucked it up and answered their call.

In a special meeting room, a long table sat in the center that fit all of the clan heads and the elders. The Hokage sat at the head of the table, of course.

Hiruzen cleared his throat before speaking, loud enough for everyone to hear, "So, as you all must have heard, three nights ago there was a rather... _uncommon,_ event that took place within' the village."

An old man with glasses and a beard, Homura Mitokado, the Village elder, spoke up, "Yes, I believe a young boy and a woman appeared under questionable circumstances." This statement made the few people who hadn't heard break out in puzzled conversation.

"Precisely." The Hokage continued. "The two were injured and hospitalized. Trunks, the boy, has recently awoken, and is now taking refuge within the village."

A handful of the council members didn't approve of this. A woman, Mebuki Haruno, spoke out, "Wait! You mean to tell me that you allowed an unknown individual to take refuge in the village? Have you even learned where he came from? How do you know he's not a member of an enemy village?"

"Actually," Inoichi spoke up, gaining the council's attention, "That brings up a whole nother topic altogether. After scanning the woman's memories, I've seen things that were out of this world. There's no way in hell these people are from this land, or even from _our_ world."

A man with black hair tied in a ponytail, two scars on the right side of his face, decided to jump in, "What are you saying, that these people are extraterrestrials?" The thought sounded ridiculous to the man, Shikaku.

"I'm not saying that, Shikaku. I'm saying that these people may not come from a realm of our own. They possess technology that's decades, maybe even _centuries_ ahead of our own."

Hiruzen nodded, confirming Inoichi's statement, "I myself have gotten to see a sample of the boys technology."

For a moment everyone was silent, pondering on what they just heard. An old woman with her hair tied in a bun spoke up, "What are we going to do with the boy until his mother awakens?" Koharu asked.

The Hokage grinned, knowing he was going to stir up controversy among the council, "The boy has shown me that he is an adept Ki user. For this reason, he will join our ranks."

"Impossible!" A man with white eyes and long black hair called out, "Ki hasn't been used in centuries, it's impossible for one to utilize it in this day and age." This caused the room to break out in chatter, making the Hokage raise his hand to silence it.

"Yes Hiashi, that is true. A shinobi in this day and age wouldn't be able to use Ki, but that only furthers the point that the boy is not from here."

Danzo voiced his thoughts, "You say that the boy is joining our shinobi forces. How would his Ki abilities benefit us? Our shinobi can't use it, and from my understanding, Ki was abandoned for the concept of Chakra, with it being more flexible and easier to manipulate although less potent and destructive as Ki."

Hiruzen again nodded, "Although our shinobi wouldn't be able to use Ki and vice-versa, the boy has shown that his Ki can provide him with rather unique abilities, such as the ability to fly." This released a series of gasps from a few people, and Danzo's eye widened. Hiruzen noticed Danzo's eye widen. The Fire Shadow knew that would lead to difficulties later. "I think I'll tell Iruka to schedule a spar between the students, just so we can get a gauge for just where the boy stands among his peers." After a series of nods, Hiruzen called a dismissal, letting the council members return to their homes.

XXXX

Rays of sunlight seeped through the blinds of the capsule house, filling the home with natural light. A few rays touched down onto the face of the sleeping saiyan, causing him to slowly stir awake. The teen sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before looking to the clock on his nightstand, the red digital numbers read '7:15'. Trunks let out a low groan as he realized he only had forty-five minutes to get to class.

The saiyan stretched his arms, feeling his joints pop in relief before he hopped out of bed and strolled into the bathroom, taking a look at himself in the mirror. He used his hand to brush his wild hair back down in front of his left eye, the way he usually kept it. The saiyan looked at the bandage on his cheek and slowly peeled it off, smiling when he saw that his skin healed to where the injury was no longer noticeable. He then brushed his teeth and went through his usual morning routines. Trunks decided to leave his sword at home for the day.

As he left the house he dialed a few buttons on a panel installed on the side, causing the house to burst in white vapor, and into a small white capsule in its place, which the Saiyan pocketed right after.

The streets of Konoha were pretty barren, although it was rather early in the morning. As the son of Vegeta roamed the streets, he could hear the snickering laughter of a young man drawing near on the rooftops. He was surprised to see a young boy around his age being chased down by a group of adults on the rooftops. The boy had blonde hair with whiskers marks on his face, and was dressed in an orange jumpsuit with goggles fastened to his forehead. Trunks noticed the boy was carrying cans of paint along with him.

"Naruto! Get back here!" One of the men shouted after the blonde.

Naruto snickered, "Ha, give it up! You losers'll never catch me!"

Trunks couldn't help but grin, the fact that grown men were struggling to catch a kid almost half their size was pretty amusing. He considered helping the men out but figured it wasn't really his problem to deal with. The saiyan pulled out the map scroll and slowly guided his way to the academy.

As he looked up from the map, the saiyan noticed a rather large building located at the base of the Hokage Mountain, the Ninja Academy. When the saiyan prince began making his way to the front entrance he was surprised to see a man dragging the blonde kid from earlier behind him while scolding him, for some reason the blonde was tied up with rope. The man had brown hair tied in a ponytail with a long scar running across his nose.

"Seriously Naruto, for someone who's failed the graduation exam twice, I would think that you would try to get to class on time!" Iruka scolded Naruto.

"Yeah well it's not like-" Naruto was cut off when he noticed Trunks awkwardly standing off to the side, causing Iruka to notice the saiyan as well.

"Oh," Iruka said awkwardly, dropping Naruto, "You must be the new arrival the Hokage told me about." Iruka took out a clipboard and looked for Trunks name, "Ah, Trunks Briefs was it?"

Trunks nodded nervously, "Y-yes sir."

Iruka smiled, "Well Trunks, my name is-,"

"Hey, my name's Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya!" Naruto cut in as somehow broke through the ropes and enthusiastically approached Trunks, putting out his hand for Trunks to shake, which he did.

"Nice to meet you too!" Trunks said back, already feeling comfortable with the kids welcome.

Iruka smiled, "And my name's Iruka Umino, the instructor here at the Academy." He turned and grabbed the handle to the Academy entrance, and shot an irritated glance towards Naruto, "But you're both late, Naruto, you go inside and take a seat while I introduce Trunks here to the class."

Naruto negligently waved Iruka off, "Yeah, yeah, I got it Iruka-sensei." The blonde entered the building.

Iruka glanced at the blonde as he walked through the door before turning back to Trunks. "So Trunks, how do feel? You nervous?"

The saiyan rubbed his shoulder, an obvious sign that he was, indeed, nervous. "To be honest, yeah. I never went to a school before."

"Home schooled?" Iruka asked, raising a questionable eyebrow.

"Pretty much." Trunks confirmed.

Iruka let out a small chuckle, "You'll be just fine here Trunks. Though I will admit, you're coming pretty late in the year, so don't get too comfortable with the students. They may be graduating soon." The saiyan nodded in understanding. There was no reason to get attached to the people here anyways.

The saiyan followed behind Iruka as he opened the door, stepping through to reveal a large classroom full of adolescents who were chatting amongst themselves. Iruka silenced them with a clearing of the throat. Iruka stood at the center of the room.

"Hello class. Today we have a new student, so try to make him feel welcome." Iruka stepped to the side, reveal to the class a nervous looking boy with lavender hair. "Say hello to Trunks Briefs." That earned a few of snickers from a couple of students, only making Trunks go redder.

"H-Hello." Trunks shyly said, his head lowered.

"Now Trunks, would you happen to be familiar with the concept of Chakra?" Iruka asked.

Trunks nodded, "Yeah, the Hokage told me thats what you all use for energy. I can only use Ki."

The class gasped and Iruka looked like he touched an electric wire.

"K-Ki? You can't just use your Ki! That's you're life energy, you'll die!" Iruka almost yelled.

The saiyan shook his head, "Sorry, but it's not _that_ simple." The saiyan held up his hand to where the class and Iruka could clearly see what he was about to do. Trunks decided to just rehash what he showed Hiruzen yesterday by allowing a small yellow ball to form in his hand, much to the spectators astonishment, although none more than Naruto and another boy with spiked back black hair in a high collar blue shirt.

'Wh-What the hell…?' Sasuke thought in shocked fascination.

Trunks smirked before continuing, keeping the Ki ball steady as if it was effortless, which it was, "You see, Ki is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets and the more of it you can use in the long run." Trunks let the ball dissipate.

Iruka scratched his chin, "Interesting. So it is like Chakra in that regard at least."

"Hey Iruka." Iruka turned and was surprised to see it was Sasuke who called out, the class had similar thoughts.

"Yes Sasuke?"

"Would it be possible for me to use Ki?" The Uchiha asked. If there was any other source of energy that could be used against, _him,_ he sure as hell wouldn't mind using it.

Iruka shook his head, "Actually no, Sasuke. You see class, Chakra has been in the bodies system for centuries now, it's something that's become a part of human anatomy. There wouldn't be a way for your body to adjust to Ki as it would for him to use Chakra."

A boy with a lazy look in his eyes with black hair in a ponytail spoke up, "That still doesn't explain why _he_ can."

Iruka and the class looked to Trunks for an answer. The teen gave a nervous shrug, "What can I say, I come from a long way away." Trunks gave a nervous laugh. Majority of the room gave him and unsatisfied look.

Iruka gave Trunks a narrowed look,"Uh-huh." The man slowly said. "Well Trunks, I do want to see just where you rank among your peers. So everyone, outside. We're gonna have a little spar." Iruka grinned.

As the demi-saiyan followed behind Iruka out the door,with the class in tow, he could hear the students whispering about him behind his back.

" _Hey dude, my dad told me about that guy, he's a total freak."_

 _"Really? What about him?"_

 _"Remember that little incident from a few days ago? Well they say he's the cause of it! And he also just popped in out of thin air. I'm telling you man, this guy can't be normal."_

 _"Damn."_

Other comments were along The lines of,

 _"There's no way that pretty boy could make it as a shinobi."_

 _"I know right! He thinks he's special because of that little light show."_

 _"I bet he spends more time in front of a mirror than actually training."_

The saiyan could at least hear the girls were a bit more positive about him.

 _"Oh my god, he's so hot!"_

 _"I know! He's almost hotter than Sasuke!"_

 _"I love his eyes!"_

 _"He's so shy too, it's so adorable."_

The saiyans face reddened in a mixture of awkwardness and bashfulness. He knew that word going around about him and his mother couldn't be good in the long run, and he knew that the more attention drawn to him would only be made worse.

Trunks found himself standing next to Iruka with the rest of the students lined out in front of them.

The teacher studied each of the students for a second before choosing his three, "Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, step forth." The three did as told. Trunks noticed that Kiba was a boy sporting a grey hooded fur lined parka, with red fang tattoos on his cheek, and gave off an aura of arrogance (the cocky grin also gave it away). Trunks also noticed the small white dog perched on Kiba's head. Iruka spoke mainly to Trunks, but loud enough to where the class could hear, "Alright Trunks, I wanna get a gauge for just how strong you are compared to everyone else. So I'm gonna have you fight these three one on one. Are you ok with that?"

The saiyan read their energy levels and grew uncertain. In terms of pure energy, they weren't very strong compared to him, but they were much stronger than the average civilian. Trunks nodded, figuring it was best to just go along.

"Good. Naruto, you're up first."

The two teens were standing apart from each other in a wide dirt circle made to simulate a fighting ring. Iruka and the rest of the class were spectating.

Trunks sensed the blondes energy, and something baffled him. On the surface, the blonde was among the weakest of the class. But when he searched deeper, the saiyan could feel something darker, and _much_ more powerful lying underneath. He would have to be cautious.

Iruka held up an arm, "Ready….Begin!"

Naruto let out a battle cry and charged at the Demi-saiyan, winding his left fist back for a haymaker. As Naruto closed the distance, Trunks reflexes allowed him to sidestep and sweep his feet under the Uzumaki's legs, the momentum sending him airborne, before the saiyan snapped a kick into his ribs, knocking Naruto out of the ring and tumbling head over heels onto the ground.

The Uzumaki was lying upside down half dazed with swirls in his eyes. Most of the class groaned. Just because he beat the dead last didn't make him anything special.

Iruka lightly coughed, "Ok, um, Trunks Briefs wins by ring out."

Naruto regained his consciousness when he heard he lost, and would have groaned had he not saw a hand lent out to help him up. The blonde smiled when he saw it was Trunks and accepted it, letting the lavender haired teen lift him to his feet. It wasn't often at all that someone would do that for him.

Iruka smiled at the act that went right over the other students heads. "Alright Kiba, you're up."

Kiba placed his dog, Akamaru, on the ground before swaggering into the ring, meeting Trunks. Kiba still held his cocky grin as he spoke, "You think you're big just because you beat the dead last of the class? Tsk, I think I'll show you your place." Kiba slid into a fighting stance.

"You talk pretty big for someone who doesn't know what their opponents capable of." Trunks casually said, sliding back into the demon style stance. The stance his master taught him.

"I have no reason not to." Kiba slid into his family's stance.

Iruka shook his head and mentally sighed, 'There goes that arrogant attitude of his.' Iruka referred to the Inuzuka. The Chunin then took note of Trunks fighting stance, 'Hm, never seen a stance like that before.' He could tell that it was very strong defensive wise, and left no easy opening for an opponent to penetrate. Whoever taught him, taught him well. Iruka raised an arm, "Begin!"

Kiba charged at Trunks at a speed much more rapid than Naruto's. Seeing how Kiba was top of the class, only second to Sasuke, the students were far more invested in this fight.

The Inuzuka jumped into the air in an attempt to land an axe kick at the top of Trunks head. The saiyan lazily put his right hand up to grab Kiba's leg, stopping him dead in mid air. Trunks swung the Inuzuka by his leg, making him lose balance and the whiplash causing Kiba's head to spin before throwing him. As Kiba soared through the air he barely managed to get his bearings back together before twisting into a land, his fingers clawing into the ground to keep him from sliding into a ring out.

The Inuzuka got back to his feet, "Heh, guess you're not bad. But I still have this match in the bag."

"Prove it." Trunks said nonchalantly.

The Inuzuka proceeded to charge at the saiyan again, throwing a right hook at the saiyans temple who promptly swatted the fist aside, knocking Kiba's guard and torso wide open. The saiyan threw a (light for him, hard for Kiba) punch to the Inuzuka's gut, knocking every bit of wind from the teens body and throwing him clear outside of the ring. Kiba skid along the dirt ground, out cold.

The students stared wide eyed at the outcome.

An overweight boy who was snacking on potato chips paused in awe, he turned to Shikamaru, "I can't believe he beat Kiba, he was one of the best in class!"

The slacker had a hand on top of his head, him too not believing it, "You've gotta be kidding me. That already puts him above everyone else, except Sasuke at least."

Iruka grabbed Kiba by his arm and dragged him back to the rest of the class. Akamaru whimpered and nudged his unconscious form. Iruka observed the newest member, noticing how he hadn't even broken a sweat. 'Just how skilled is this kid?' The Chunin looked to Sasuke who was already making his way to the ring, ready to put his skills to the test. Iruka tapped his chin in thought, 'Could he really handle Sasuke? Sure he handled Kiba like he was nothing, but Sasuke's the rookie of the year.'

Sakura was the one to voice Iruka's thoughts, and her hands were balled nervously, "Iruka-sensei, do you really think it's a good idea for Trunks to fight Sasuke-Kun? I mean, sure he beat Kiba and Naruto, but Sasuke's the best."

A girl with blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a bang hanging in front of her right eye, Ino Yamanaka, spoke up, "Yeah Iruka, there's no way Trunks could beat Sasuke."

The instructor smiled at them, "Who knows, you might be surprised." He saw the two boys were standing apart from each other, battle stance at the ready.

Sasuke watched the first two matches, and knew he had to give the Demi-saiyan his props, "I must admit, that was pretty impressive the way you handled Kiba, but you're not beating me, I'm in a league far above anyone else here."

'Another cocky one.' Trunks smirked, "I guess we'll see about that."

"Begin!" Iruka called.

Sasuke immediately pulled six shuriken from his pouch and flung them at Trunks, the metal stars leaving an ethereal blur behind them as they flew to the saiyan with missile guided accuracy.

The saiyan half-heartedly weaved and sidestepped through the spaces in between the first five shuriken, the last one he simply swatted to the side like a bothersome fly. Sasuke made a serpentine run into the saiyan, at a speed that appeared to be a blur to the class. The Uchiha made to throw a right hook to the saiyan who put up his hand to block, only the Uchiha faked him out by phasing into the air for a roundhouse kick aimed for Trunks' head. The saiyan effortlessly blocked the attack with his opposite arm, stopping the kick dead cold.

Sasuke grunted a curse before swinging his opposite leg up to catch Trunks in the chin. He gasped when the saiyan didn't budge one inch, as a matter of fact, it didn't even look like he felt it.

Trunks glared at Sasuke before using his free hand to grab the teens foot placed under his chin and swinging the Uchiha into the ground. The Uchiha barely had a second to twist his body to where he landed on his back, absorbing some of the impact but losing some of his breath. Sasuke quickly rolled to the side when Trunks' fist slammed into the spot he was lying, feeling the ground vibrate around him and crack as he climbed to his feet. The Uchiha was visibly shocked, to say the least.

"Wh-What the hell _is_ that kid?!" One of the students said in awe to his friend.

Sasuke's fangirls wanted to cheer for their hero, but they also didn't want to rule the new kid out for some reason.

Iruka didn't know what to think either. Just how strong was this kid? What was he truly capable of?

Sasuke gaped at Trunks as the saiyan stood back up to his feet, rubbing the dirt from his hand. The Uchiha grunted, 'No, I'm not finished yet! I just need to step it up a notch.' The Uchiha did a backflip to gain distance from the saiyan, his hands flying through handsigns before bringing his hand up to his mouth and bringing his hand up to his mouth, " **Fire-Style: FireBall Jutsu!"** A ball of flame erupted from Sasuke's mouth coming straight for the saiyan who radiated pure confidence.

Iruka and the rest of the class called for Trunks to get the hell out of the way. Iruka cursed himself for not mentioning that Jutsu's were against the rules for spars. He wouldn't be able to move in time to grab the saiyan.

The fireball passed over the spot where Trunks once stood, passing through the ring with a trail of ash, smoke, and scorched earth.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he didn't see the saiyan's body, he looked over to the class to see some of the girls were crying and some of the boys were staring in horror at what the Uchiha was capable of.

"Sasuke," Iruka growled, anger present in his voice, "What the _hell_ did you just do?!" The man all but yelled at him.

Sasuke was at a loss of words,"I..I…" The Uchiha didn't want to kill him, he just wanted to push his abilities and,

"Thats a pretty impressive technique." The class gasped as they heard the voice. They looked up to see the new kid floating carelessly in the air, as fresh as a diamond. "That actually might have hurt if you hit me with it." The saiyan smirked.

"No way, HE CAN FLY!" A student shouted in obvious shock as they beheld the saiyan suspended in the air with his arms crossed. The class stood mouth agape, unable to put words together.

Iruka breathed, "I-I can't believe it."

Sasuke was so stunned he didn't register Trunks level a hand at him and charge a weak non-lethal Ki blast, the yellow ball firing and detonating in front of him, the shockwave throwing him out of the ring and the concussion knocking him unconscious.

There was a moment of silence from the class, before Shikamaru pointed out, "He...He just beat _Sasuke..._ effortlessly!"

Iruka rubbed his head before he smiled, 'Guess we have a new Rookie of the year.' He turned to his students as Trunks landed back to the ground gracefully. "Alright everyone, class dismissed. If you guys could please be so kind as to take Sasuke and Kiba to the infirmary, I would really appreciate it."

A couple of random students dragged off Kiba while Sasuke's fangirls carried off Sasuke. Sakura gave Trunks a look of wonder before walking off with the other girls. As Trunks turned to leave he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder, he looked back to see Iruka. "Not you, Trunks. I need to have a word with you."

The two were back in the empty classroom, Iruka sat in his desk with Trunks out in front of him. "I must say, Trunks, I am very impressed with the way you handled yourself today. You managed to beat the #1 rookie, with little effort at that!"

The saiyan frowned, "I can't exactly say I like that. To be honest I was wanting to avoid having much spotlight on me."

Iruka nodded, understanding where the teen was coming from. "I do want to address to you that the students will be graduating from the academy tomorrow, which should be fine for you because there wouldn't be much that you could get out of a semester with us. Now, the jutsu that the students would need to know to graduate, is called the Bunshin Jutsu, or the Clone Technique. Would you have any Ki techniques that would let you do something like that?"

Trunks scratched his head as he thought back on the techniques Gohan taught him, "Clones, huh…" A lightbulb lit in his head, "Oh yeah, my master Gohan taught me a technique called multi-form, check this out."

The saiyan crossed his arms in an 'X' formation before he split apart in three different ways, three clones hopping out of his body. The clones bowed to the instructor before fading from existence. "For each clone that I make it divides my power. One clone divide's my power in half, two clones divide's my power by a third, and three clones divides my power by quarters."

"Wow," Iruka said with piqued interest. "We actually have a technique very similar to that. It's called the 'Shadow Clone Jutsu' or the 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'." The Chunin stood out of his seat before doing a handsign, **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** Two other clones of Iruka appeared to his side, before dissipating in a puff of smoke.

"Pretty cool." Trunks said simply.

Iruka nodded. "But you should get home Trunks, you're practically a genin already."

"Thanks Iruka, I can't wait." The saiyan said as he moved to leave the building.

Little did the two know, a certain Uzumaki was peeking through a nearby window, observing their entire conversation.

XXXX

A/N: BAM! I managed to go through the entire Academy day in one chapter. Does it seem rushed? How were the matches? And for those of you who have read Hybrid of the Hidden Leaf, which Academy segment was better, this version, or the other? Tell me in a review!


	4. Graduation

A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto. They belong to the geniuses behind their works.

XXX

It was the day of the graduation exams. The son of Vegeta decided to wake up early, not to go to the Academy, but somewhere a little more important to him. He dressed out in something a bit more basic than what he wore yesterday, which was a normal black short sleeved T-shirt with blue jeans and a digital watch strapped to his right wrist. There were also a pair of black sneakers tied to his feet.

After receiving a bit of money from the Hokage the previous day, Trunks took a detour to a local flower shop. He looked to the sign at the top of the store, ' **Yamanaka's Flowers** ', it read in red letters on a purple board.

Seeing no other shops around for variation, Trunks hesitantly stepped into the store. The door set off the jingle of a bell wired at the top of it. The inside of the shop smelled wonderful, with the calming, exotic, sweet smell of lavender, tsubaki, sumire, and even sakura lingering in the air.

He noticed nobody was at the front desk to help him, and was prepared to call out, only for a young feminine voice to beat him to it.

"I'm coming, just hold on one second!" It came from behind a door behind the desk,the sound of objects shifting around and cursing could be heard by the saiyan who stood awkwardly in the center of the store. A young girl scrambled from out of the room, her head lowered into fixing her hair back into the long blonde ponytail that it once was. "Sorry about that, welcome to Yamanaka's Flow-" Her head rose and she gasped when she saw who it was. Out of nervousness, she quickly let out, "Oh, um, hi Trunks." She dusted some of the purple and pink petals that clung to her white apron, trying her best to look presentable even though she was dressed in her work clothes and her face was as red as a cherry.

"Uh hi, wait, do I know you?" Trunks asked puzzledly. He wanted to be polite, but he had no idea who this girl was.

"Y-you don't know me, my name's Ino, Ino Yamanaka. I'm in you're class at the Academy." She quickly said. "Was there anything I could help you with?"

"Yeah, I was needing to pick up some flowers for my-, for someone important. I just don't know which ones I should get." He didn't feel it necessary to tell her who he was buying flowers for exactly.

Ino nodded with a smile, "Of course I can help with that." She stepped from behind the counter to lead Trunks outside where they grew the flowers. Trunks didn't _exactly_ notice it, but Ino's face grew even redder when she got closer towards him. 'OH MY GOD HE'S SO HOT!' She was screaming in her head.

When the two got outside Trunks was introduced to a yard full of colorful flowers. He wouldn't know which one a woman would like so he was left rather confused, though Ino already picked up on this.

The Yamanaka scratched the bottom of her chin in a thinking manner as she looked over the flowers. "Let's see," She walked over to a patch of violet colored ones, and picked them, "Some Sumire," The girl strolled over to a pink patch, "A batch of Momo," She picked them and moved to a purple colored batch, "and some Kosumosu should be perfect!" She bundled the flowers up and held them to Trunks in a way to get his opinion.

"They look great, thanks!"

"Good, now follow me." She brought the saiyan over to the counter where she went back through the door she went through earlier, obviously to wrap the flowers. She came back up to the register, "That'll be...150 ryo." She double-checked the price.

The saiyan reached into his pocket and pulled out the small wad of bills that the Hokage gave him. After counting them he frowned, "I'm sorry, the Hokage only gave me 100 ryo."

Ino shrugged, "It's cool, I'll just take that and take the heat from my parents later."

Trunks hesitated, "Wait, you don't have to-"

The blonde put up her hand to silence him, "I said it's cool, I promise. As if they're going to do anything besides lecture me for 10 minutes." She said jokingly even though it was true.

The saiyan laid the money on the table, "Thanks, I owe you one." He took the flowers and headed out the door.

"See you in class!" She called after him. As he left Ino sighed dreamily and put her head on her hands. She then grunted angrily, "Damn, I probably could have found _another_ way to make him pay without money." Her being the hopeless romantic that she was, she couldn't help but think that she could sucker him into a date somehow.

While Trunks was outside, he looked both ways to make sure no one could see him, before lifting off into the sky.

The demi-saiyan landed in front of the Konoha hospital, taking care to walk through the front doors and into the main hall that held the front desk. The lavender-haired teen strolled over to the desk that was being managed by two women.

One of the women looked up and noticed him, giving the saiyan an _extremely_ off putting frown.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if I could see-"

The nurse rudely cut him off, "Visiting hours aren't until later."

"But I was"

"I just told you visiting hours aren't until _later_. Get out."

"Now that's no way to treat a visitor." A silky voice chimed in, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Trunks turned behind him and the nurse gasped when she saw who it was. Kakashi. "A boy tries to see his debilitated mother and you have the gall to turn him away? How sad."

The nurse's face turned red from a mixture of embarrassment and a hint of fear. She stuttered, "K-K-Kakashi, I-I didn't mean to- I mean I was jus-"

"I wonder what Lord Hokage's opinion of that would be. Surely it would be of no effort on his part to have you fired, no questions asked."

The nurse quickly waved her hands in an attempt to coax him out of getting her fired, "Oh no, there's no need for that. The room number is 2C, just walk right through." She said with an embarrassed laugh.

Kakashi gave an eye smile, "Thank you." He gave a nod to Trunks to have the saiyan follow after him. With a relieved smile Trunks walked after him.

As the two walked through the halls, Trunks looked up to the older man next to him, "Thanks for helping me out back there, I really appreciate it."

The copy-ninja gave him a side glance, "Don't sweat it, no need to thank me." Trunks nodded. Kakashi changed topics "So, I hear you beat Sasuke on your first day."

The saiyan nodded, "Yeah, everyone makes such a big deal out of it. If I knew he was the strongest in class I would have let him beat me."

Kakashi raised a visible eyebrow, "And why is that?"

Trunks shrugged, "The less attention on me the better."

"Understandable."

The two came up to a door that had '2C' engraved on a tag attached to it. There was a window that allowed easy access view into the room for people in the hall, although the curtains were shut so Trunks couldn't see in.

Kakashi leaned back against the wall in the hall, showing that he was going to let Trunks go in alone. The saiyan turned the doorknob, opening the door quietly as to not wake his mother if she was back conscious. Trunks stepped inside to see his mother in a similar condition to what she was in for the last few days.

Bulma was lying in bed under the covers with a breather still attached to her mouth. Her eyes were still tightly shut and her chest rose with each pulse of the machine supplying her body with oxygen. The woman's long blue hair was out of its ponytail and sprawled around her head.

The demi-saiyan hesitantly walked up to her form, "Hey mom, I got you some flowers." He spoke to her, receiving no response. The saiyan set the flowers inside of a vase that contained a fake flower already inside of it. The vase was conveniently already set near a window with sunlight.

Trunks grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to the bed, sitting down in it, "I figured you would like them, a girl helped me pick them out, and it's not like you got to see that many of them back home." He still didn't get a response, but that didn't stop him from continuing.

"You should really get a look at the place we're at, it's really nice. Sure it's not the same technologically as we had back home, but it's not all bad. And you'll never get this, but this place is full of ninja, and I get to be one too!" Bulma still didn't move a muscle, making Trunks sigh. He looked at his digital watch and noticed it said '7:47' meaning he only had about thirteen minutes to get to class. He stood up, 'Well mom, I hope you wake up soon, so you can try to find out what went wrong with the Time Machine. I have to get to class now, I'll stop by later, love you." He gave her a peck on the cheek before heading out the room.

Upon entering the hallway, Trunks noticed Kakashi was already gone. This made the saiyan question why, but he knew had to get a move on to the academy so he left the building.

XXX

As Trunks approached the front door to the Academy, he found things to be a lot similar to how they were yesterday, as in, most students were up out of their seats conversing with one another, some sitting _on_ the tables instead of in their seats, except for a select few, being Naruto (who looked extremely happy by the way), a very timid girl with violet eyes who kept taking nervous glances at Naruto, Sasuke (who was in a rather sour mood for someone who felt they would be graduating), and a boy with small black shades with a high collar jacket who was sitting idly on his own. When Trunks took his first few steps into the class, he found himself even more nervous with the fact that he didn't have Iruka next to him, and the fact that the room went dead silent when he walked in made the situation 10x worse.

The force of about 30 pairs of eyeballs staring at him made the saiyan want to fly through the roof. Literally. Lucky for him, Iruka and another silver-haired man walked through a door in the room, chatting about something irrelevant to the class.

Iruka cleared his throat, "Alright class everyone take a seat, you all know what today i-" He turned to see Trunks standing awkwardly by the door, "Ah Trunks, take a seat. No need to be shy, take a seat anywhere you'd like."

That's when Naruto shot up to get Trunks attention, "Hey Trunks, over here, sit here dude!" He was pointing to the seat to the right of him. Most of the class rolled their eyes, thinking the annoying blonde would drive the new kid to stay away from him.

They were surprised to see Trunks smile and happily take the seat next to the class dobe.

Ino and Sakura glared bloody murder at the blonde, 'Damn you Naruto!' They screamed in their heads.

The blonde was rather giddy, squirming in his seat, a huge smile plastered on his face, and he found it overall _extremely_ difficult to sit still. Trunks turned to the blonde, obviously concerned about him, "Uh, are you ok Naruto?"

The blonde didn't even turn his way, too happy for his own good, "Ohwhomeyeahneverbetter!" He shot out extremely fast.

Iruka continued, holding up a clipboard, "So, we will now proceed with the final exam. When you're name is called you will advance into the testing room. The final test will be on, The Bunshin Jutsu."

At this Naruto's smile smile stretched ear-to-ear, quite literally at that. The energy he gave off made it look like he was ready to explode.

Iruka called the first student up, him and Mizuki leading him into the room. As time went by and a few students went, Trunks' turn was up and he was sent into the testing room.

When he walked through the door he noticed that it was a mostly empty room aside from the small desk at the front of the room. At the desk sat Iruka and the other man from earlier. The scarred man motioned the saiyan over, "Trunks, I would like to introduce you to Mizuki, he's a close friend of mine and is another teacher here at the school."

Mizuki smiled at the saiyan and held his hand out, "Nice to meet you Trunks-Kun."

Trunks hesitated for a moment. Something in his instincts didn't sit well with that man's smile. Perhaps it was survival instinct, something he picked up from experiences with bad survivors. That smile was obviously a mask for much malice and ill intent. Though the saiyan knew this, he still took Mizuki's hand and shook it to avoid being rude. "Nice to meet you too Mizuki-san."

'I need to keep an eye out for this guy.'

Iruka continued, leaning back in the chair to make himself comfortable, "Alright Trunks, all you have to do is the technique you showed me yesterday and you become a genin."

The saiyan, seeing that coming, crossed his arms and squatted, two copies of him split apart in two different ways, before standing up side by side to the original.

Mizuki was impressed, he turned to Iruka, "Wow! I guess you weren't lying about him using Ki, and he even has a technique similar to clone jutsu."

Iruka smirked smugly, "I told you so."

Mizuki turned to Trunks, "So are you able to attack with those clones?"

Trunks nodded, "Sure am, but this is mainly used for training since it divides my power by however many I make."

The silver-haired man nodded, "Well Iruka, I say he passes, do you?"

"Of course. Trunks, come take your headband, you are now a genin of Konohagakure."

Trunks smiled, and took his headband, which was the same cloth that other shinobi wore with a silver plate at the front, a design of the leaf symbol etched in the metal. The saiyan gave a respectful bow, "Thank you Iruka-sensei."

The scarred man waved him off, "Don't sweat it Trunks, it was a pleasure having you. Although our time together was short I must admit!" Iruka laughed.

Trunks went back to the classroom to wait out the rest of the tests. He noticed a pink-haired girl kept ogling at him whenever he turned his back. The saiyan didn't know whether to feel uncomfortable, offended, or even flattered at the attention, so he settled on ignoring it. He took the headband, considering tying it around his head where it belonged, but instead tied it around his right bicep.

More and more students began finishing their exams, almost pushing Naruto to the brink of a suspense related coma.

"Naruto, you're up." Iruka called.

An explosion of joy erupted from the blonde who almost hit the ceiling of the room. "Woohoo! It's about time!" Naruto ran into the testing room in an orange blur.

'G-Good luck Naruto-kun.' Hinata wished with a small smile.

The blonde stood in front of his sensei and Mizuki, a look of utmost confidence clear on his features.

"Alright Naruto, you know the drill. Make at least two functional clones and you pass."

"Actually Iruka-Sensei, I couldn't learn the Bunshin Jutsu, but I found an even better Jutsu that you'll _have_ to pass me for knowing!"

Iruka shook his head disappointedly, "Naruto you know you can't just,"

" _ **Kage**_ **Bunshin no Jutsu!"** Iruka and Mizuki's eyes widened at the sight of over _ten_ clones filling the space behind Naruto, all with the blondes megawatt fox grin splitting their cheeks.

The two chunin gaped with open mouths over the blondes work, Iruka managed to stutter out, "N-Naruto, h-how did you manage to-, you listened in on my conversation with Trunks yesterday, didn't you!" Anger was present in the man's voice, completed with veins popping up around his forehead.

Naruto scratched the back of his head accompanied with a nervous laugh, "Hehe, yeah. What can I say I couldn't help myself."

Iruka let out a sigh, before he smiled, "Well Naruto, you managed to perform a jutsu _above_ your skill level, I think it's undeniable that you've earned this headband. Congratulations!" The blondes blue eyes widened in a mixture of overjoy and a hint of disbelief. Tears built up in the blondes eyes as he dispersed the jutsu, and took his first steps towards the table. He stopped when Mizuki spoke up.

"W-wait a minute Iruka, he didn't actually do the jutsu that he was assigned, meaning he didn't fulfill the requirements to pass the test." Naruto's face became downcast, and his world felt as if it would come crashing down. Was there no hope left for him?

Iruka gave the man a deadpan look, "Seriously Mizuki, Naruto learned a jutsu that was high Chunin level and beyond. And on top of that he made _ten_ shadow clones which is unheard of! If anyone deserves to pass, it's him." Naruto's spirit came right back up.

Mizuki nodded as Naruto took a headband. He was calm on the outside, but on the inside he was _furious._ 'Damn it! Now my plans ruined. No, actually, I can still work this to my advantage somehow.' He managed to tell himself.

XXXX

The students were all outside, showing off their headbands to their parents and friends. Naruto got the headband part, but he still found himself on the swingset outside of the academy, alone. He was one step closer to his dream, but he had no one to celebrate that with. Nobody cared.

Trunks struggled to push through the crowd of people who were gathered _right_ in front of the academy door. Actually, it wasn't so much struggling to get _through_ them that was the issue, it was struggling to get through without pushing someone into the ground. When he got through the crowd the saiyan noticed the Naruto sitting on the swingset all by himself. The saiyan wondered why, seeing as the blonde was so friendly he had to be well liked. Right?

Naruto looked up to see Trunks standing in front of him. The blonde also took notice of Trunks headband on his arm, "Oh, hey Trunks. I guess it's not surprising Iruka-sensei let you pass, huh."

Trunks nodded and shrugged, "Yeah, there was nothing to it. To be honest if becoming a ninja is this easy I could have made it when I was six."

Naruto scoffed, "It only took me three tries." He mumbled.

"What?" Trunks asked even though he head the blonde clearly.

Naruto quickly waved him off, "Nothing. Forget I said that." He changed the subject to something along the lines of general chatter.

Two girls scowled at the boys from a distance. "Hmph, it's _those_ two. Look's like they actually managed to graduate." One of the girls voiced.

The other girl shook her head, "What were they thinking making them ninjas. I mean, that's the kid from... _that_ night, and the other kids the nine-"

"Shut Up! We're not supposed to speak of that remember."

The boys conversation managed to steer towards Naruto's dream, "And when I do become Hokage, everyone in this village is gonna look up to me. They're gonna acknowledge and respect me for who I am." The blonde said as he adjusted his headband around his forehead.

Trunks knew that Hokage was an important position, but he didn't know how much it could mean to people. Though, something the blonde said about his past did unsettle the saiyan, "But did you ever learn why they treat you the way they do in the first place?"

Naruto flinched before his head lowered. "I don't know. They've treated me like garbage my _entire, life_. I never did anything to'em." A grin slowly crossed his features, barely visible to Trunks through the shadow of Naruto's face. "But that's just gonna make it all the sweeter when I become Hokage."

The saiyan couldn't lie, the kid had determination; and a way with words to boot. Something about the way he talked just made you want to take his side and believe in him, which Trunks did. A beeping came from the saiyan's watch. When he looked at it he saw the yellow numbers said '5:20'. He turned around, "Well Naruto, I need to go see my mom. I'll catch you later ok."

"See you later Trunks!" The saiyan walked off with a wave. Naruto sighed before feeling someone's presence again near him, he looked up to see Mizuki perched up on the tree branch next to him.

XXX

The two were sitting on top of a building roof that gave a decent view of the village.

"So Naruto, tell me, what's your goal as a shinobi? What do you look to accomplish by being one?" Mizuki asked the blonde sitting next to him.

"My goal...is to be Hokage. That way everyone will respect and look up to me."

Mizuki raised an eyebrow, "Hokage huh? That's a pretty big goal, but one worth aspiring after. But you know, to be Hokage you have to know an insane amount of jutsu, and be the strongest person within the village."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah I know. But that's why I'm never gonna stop training and getting stronger. Nothing's gonna hold me back!"

Mizuki chuckled, "I love your spirit Naruto, and that's why I want to help you achieve your dream."

"Really?" Naruto's eyes brightened.

"Yep. And I know just the way for you to do it."

XXXX

The saiyan was once again in the hospital, making his way to Bulma's room. Angry glares were cast his way every which way he looked as he walked. One man who was walking with crutches and with bandages covering up his face, arms, and torso cast a particularly nasty one at the saiyan. It was obvious why.

Trunks could understand the people's anger towards him seeing as they got injured. _Seriously_ injured. But it's not like it was his intention for that to happen. How foolish and ignorant could these people be? To fear and hate what they simply couldn't understand. He now understood _exactly_ where Naruto was coming from.

As he turned the knob to Bulma's door, he froze as he overheard two shinobi's conversation in the hallway.

" _Hey, what is it Kokoro?"_

" _It's Naruto, he's just stolen the scroll of sealing!"_

" _What!?"_

" _Yeah, Lord Hokage's just put out a mass search for him."_

" _Damn, let's go!"_

The ninja's scurried out of the building.

'Naruto? Steal?' Trunks already knew the blonde was a bit of a troublemaker, but he shouldn't have gone this far. He better get out there and stop him before he got himself in irredeemably big trouble.

XXXX

The demi-saiyan hovered in the sky's above Konoha, feeling out for Naruto's energy. It was just his luck that he felt for it during the spars the other day or he wouldn't have had anything to go on. Trunks sensed the blondes Ki out in the forests. Along with Iruka's and Mizuki's...the latter of whom was giving off an extremely foul and hostile Ki.

Trunks cursed, "I knew there was something off about that guy!" He hurriedly blasted off in the direction of their energy.

"Time to die Naruto!" Mizuki shouted as he threw his giant shuriken at Naruto who scrambled away for his life. Like the blades of a helicopter the blades chopped through the air at a speed and velocity that would split Naruto in half if it connected.

Iruka was pinned and injured against a tree by a surprise kunai barrage, "NARUTO GET DOWN!" Iruka screamed.

The blonde hit the deck bracing himself for the end to come.

A yellow ball of light smashed into the shuriken, deflecting it and sending it off to the trees in a flurry of sparks.

'What?!' was the collective thoughts of the spectators. They didn't expect to see a familiar lavender haired saiyan to down gracefully in front of Naruto, making Mizuki grin.

"Ah, Trunks-kun. I wouldn't have expected to see you pop up out of...nowhere. But then again it seems you have a knack for that, don't you?"

The demi-saiyan shrugged, "I suppose that's true. But what's going on here? I get the feeling that I'm intruding on something big." His voice dripping with obvious sarcasm.

"Well, now that you mention it, I was just getting rid of the village wretch."

Trunks raised an eyebrow, "Seems a little harsh for someone who's only pulled a few pranks."

Mizuki shook his head with a smirk, "Oh no Trunks, it's a bit more than that. You see the kid standing behind you is literally a _monster_."

Naruto's face twisted from the mentioning of that word. Iruka growled, "Mizuki stop it."

The man shrugged innocently, "What? I'm just saying it how it is. But Trunks, considering you're new to this village I think you should learn a bit of history. You should listen to this too Naruto."

Iruka shouted, "Mizuki don't!

Mizuki ignored him, "Twelve years ago there was a beast that attacked the hidden leaf village. This beast was known as the Nine Tailed Fox. The demon was too powerful for even the 4th Hokage to stop. So he only had one choice. To Seal it into the body of a newborn baby." Naruto's eyes widened with realization. "And that baby-" Mizuki continued.

"Was Naruto." Trunks finished.

Naruto stared at the ground in disbelief. "No...No…"

"So don't you get it now Naruto. _You're_ the nine tailed fox demon that nearly destroyed our village and killed Iruka's parents!" Mizuki then looked to Trunks. "And don't _you_ get it Trunks. This is why that little monster needs to die." Trunks took a glance back at Naruto, who looked ready to cross a despair related breakdown, before turning back to Mizuki.

"That's it? He's a monster because of _that_? If you ask me he's doing you all a pretty big favor carrying around something that powerful." Trunks narrowed his eyes, "And between you and me, if that's what you people call a monster, then I would hate for you to meet demons." The faces of Androids #17 and #18 flashed through his eyes.

Mizuki growled and pulled his last remaining shuriken,"Don't you talk down on me you little punk!" He threw the blade that shot straight for the demi-saiyan, who didn't look the slightest bit fazed.

"Trunks get down!" Iruka yelled as he struggled to pick himself up from his position, his body too badly injured from Mizuki's attack. But if he didn't get in there Trunks was done for.

The shuriken went from horizontal to vertical in its travel making Trunks smirk and pivot on his right leg, effortlessly twisting his body to dodge the shuriken that sailed harmlessly by.

Iruka and Naruto gasped. Mizuki growled, 'How the hell did that bastard just-!' He vigorously shook his head before pulling two kunai from his holster, leaping from the tree and charging at Trunks.

The saiyan fazed out from Mizuki's view, before appearing in front of him and putting his fist so far deep into the man's stomach one could see the bulge on the other side.

Mizuki spit up a mouth full of blood and bile and was sent flying in the opposite direction, skidding along the forest floor as he landed.

Trunks held his hand out at Mizuki, charging his ki as the man began to stand back up.

"Trunks wait!" Naruto got up next to the saiyan, stopping his attack. Trunks gave the blonde a questionable look in response.

"I wanna test out the jutsu I learned from the scroll. You mind?"

Trunks took a few steps back, "Go for it."

Iruka was also curious as to what the blonde was planning. Was he really capable of learning a jutsu from the scroll of sealing? A scroll that contained high chunin level jutsu and _beyond_? Actually, now that he thought about it, he did already learn Shadow Clone Jutsu. What else was he capable of?

Naruto's hands shifted through handsigns, before he took a deep breath, " **Wind Release: Air Bullets!"** A dozen pocket sized balls of wind fired from Naruto's mouth and shot at Mizuki who was just climbing to back his feet.

'WHAT THE HELL!?' He screamed before the balls each slammed into him. Not only did each ball possess enough force to hit him with the strength of ten men, but they would shred the cloth on his clothes as well. The first ball knocked him off his feet, but he kept getting blasted with each ball one after the other which sent him like a train into the nearest tree, cracking the bark and making him slide to the ground in a heap.

Iruka's mouth was hanging open in a broken fashion, 'I-Impossible! That's a Jonin level technique at _least_ and he learned it in a few hours!?'

"That was pretty cool." Trunks told Naruto who scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Hehe, to be honest I think I overdid it a little." The jinchuuriki took in Mizuki's condition. He had large cuts and bruises all over the visible flesh on his body, and most of his clothes were shredded. He wasn't 100% unconscious though, surprisingly.

Iruka chuckled, "Well Naruto, as always you never fail to surprise me. You've learned jutsu that's well out of your ninja rank, in only a few hours at that!"

"Thanks Iruka-sensei, but is it true? Am I...really a monster?"

Trunks cut in, "No, you're not. You hold the burden of carrying a monster that could destroy your village. If anything that makes you a hero in my book."

"Trunks is right," Iruka nodded, "Despite what anyone else says you're not the Kyuubi, your it's jailer. You keep _that_ monster from coming out and destroying us, thus doing a greater service to the village than any shinobi could."

Groans came from Mizuki as he twitched and spasmed in his spot. Naruto turned to Iruka, "So what are we gonna do about hi-"

Trunks' hand flashed up and blasted a medium level Ki blast at Mizuki. The blast connecting and erupting in a shockwave and explosion, making Naruto and Iruka shield their eyes from the rocks and dust.

Iruka shakily moved his arms from his eyes as the explosion died down, "T-Trunks, what did you..." He looked to see a crater and a small bit of black ash where Mizuki once was. The tree and some of the land behind him was wiped out as well.

Naruto was horrified, "Trunks, why?"

"He was evil. It didn't make much sense to leave him alive. He most likely would have just done it again if he was arrested." Trunks rationalized.

"It's still the job of a grown up to handle these situations, Trunks. It wasn't your call when he was already incapacitated."

Trunks jerked, "Y-you're right, I'm sorry Iruka."

The scarred chunin sighed before taking another glance at the scarred earth that Mizuki became apart of, "Well, he was a traitor to the village, so he was more than likely going to be executed anyway. Don't let it eat you up Trunks." He changed the subject, "So, I think, how about we return this scroll, and I treat you boys to some ramen?"

Naruto's face brightened, "Sounds like a great idea to me! What about you Trunks?" It was then that the saiyans stomach growled, making him blush and let out a nervous laugh, "I'll take that as a yes! Let's go Iruka-sensei!"

The hyperactive blonde ran off through the forest, making Iruka let out a, "Hey wait up Naruto!" Before he was chased by the chunin and Trunks.

Hiruzen was sitting in his office, having watched the entire incident from within his office from his crystal ball. He chuckled, "Well done boys. Well done."

An anbu rushed into his office, "Lord Hokage, we still can't find Naruto!"

The Hokage waved a dismissive hand, "Call off the search. Everything is going to be fine." Hiruzen then voiced in his head, 'Now I should get a search party into the woods to clean up Mizuki's remains. But I do wonder, just what could that boy have gone through to give him such a do or die attitude, yet be so kind hearted towards others?" Hiruzen would have to find out more about the boys past. And also get him assigned to a jounin. He would take care of that tomorrow.

XXXX

A/N: Alright I'm ending the chapter here. Now, I decided to have Naruto learn shadow clone jutsu early, that way he could use the scroll of sealing to learn another jutsu. I figured Air Bullets would be a good one but I wasn't even sure if that jutsu would be in the scroll of sealing. Oh well, what's done is done.

I also expect some of you to be surprised that Trunks just blasted Mizuki away like that, but you have to understand, Trunks is NOT Goku or Gohan. When it comes to evil doers he is MUCH more pragmatic. Meaning you can expect him to be less alot less merciful towards the bad guys in this fic.

Anyways, that is all I have to say for this A/N, please Review and Follow if you enjoy this fic! DarkSun82 signing out.


	5. Team 7

A/N: Wow! Chapter 5 and I got over 50 reviews in! Thanks guys, keep'em coming!

XXX

 _Trunks found himself standing amongst the ruins of a destroyed city. Thunderclouds turned the sky's a haunting black with the pouring rain that soaked the buildings and streets. The saiyan glanced all around him, desperately trying to see just where he was. He found himself unable to fly, which shocked him, but he settled on traveling the old fashioned way; with his feet._

' _Wh-Where am I?' He looked around. The buildings were all the ones he knew from back home, but that couldn't be possible. He was possibly the furthest a being could get from 'home'. So why did he find himself once again roaming the streets that he was so accustomed to his entire life. The rain soaking his hair turned it from a light lavender to purple, and caused it to clump together in locks that clung to his face._

 _Trunks gasped as a flash of thunder illuminated the streets, just enough for him to get a better view of his surroundings. Under the rubble from buildings, either in pieces, or burned to charred pieces of meat, were fresh corpses. There were the bodies of men, women, and even children lying scattered across the streets in a gruesome fashion. The rain mixing in with their blood and causing the red liquid to pool out further than was natural. It was then that Trunks looked down at his feet to see that he was standing in a puddle of red. The blood having mixed together from all bodies in the surrounding area. How many different bodies life liquid could he have been standing in?_

 _Tears streamed down the teens face accompanied by the rain, "No...no...I-I shouldn't be here. Th-This shouldn't be happening!" Trunks voice came off as an echo, possibly from the destroyed ruins of buildings reverberating his voice. He continued walking, each flash of lighting forcing him to view the aftermath of the atrocity that took place earlier before. The street he walked down was straight and narrow, and seemed to stretch on for miles. It felt like he was was traversing a road through hell. Crackles from thunder gave off a haunting echo that sounded eerily like the cries of the innocent in Trunks ears._

 _Why did this have to happen? How could someone just thrive off the pain and suffering of others for absolutely no reason. To spare no one, not even children. And there wasn't a damn thing that could be done to stop it._

 _It just wasn't fair._

 _After walking for what had to be miles the saiyan finally approached a turn left only street. Or, it was made that way because of the collapsed skyscraper that filled the opposite street. When he turned the street he felt his world almost collapse. In the distance, in a puddle of blood run water, was his master Gohan, lying face down surrounded by debris. Against his bodies wishes he began to proceed to his master's corpse._

 _His heart grew heavier the more he stared over his best friends form. He choked out, "Gohan, no. What did they do to you?" He dropped to his knees and cradled his big brother's lifeless body. He cried, and cried. He found himself powerless, and unable to turn super saiyan like last time. Why he was even reliving this situation hadn't crossed his mind; he could only think of the hurt._

 _It was then that the splashes of footsteps in the water caught his attention. He slowly turned his head only for his eyes to widen in horror._

 _Both of his master's killers were standing right behind him, sinister smirks on their faces._

 _Trunks let go of his master before jumping to his feet, snapping into a fighting stance. The two Androids chuckled at him, prompting Trunks to run at them in blind fury. #17 slammed his fist into Trunks stomach, making the saiyan spit up blood before #18 decked him with a punch to the temple that blasted him through the ruins of a building._

 _The saiyan lay bloodied and lightheaded as the rain drizzled down his face. Blood caked his hair from a gash in the side of his head, and blood trailed down his mouth. Androids #17 and #18 fazed into standing to either side of him, still sporting their smirks. Trunks accepted his fate as #17 brought up his foot over his head, and stomped down._

The saiyan practically threw himself out of bed. He was out of breath and drenched in sweat. He felt his face before taking a deep breath in relief. It was only a dream. He crashed back down into his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

If only it could be so easy, to leave the place that's been hell for him his entire life and be levelheaded. But no, the nightmares still haunt him. He felt a guilt like no other as he thought of all the people back home whom he and his mother left behind. His mother's machine was supposed to be a last beacon of hope for them, but it just blew up in the creators faces. Literally. What if his mother couldn't build another machine? What if they just royally screwed all those left back in their dimension? Were all those people just doomed to die? To sit like ducks for their demise like billions before them?

The thoughts infuriated the saiyan. His eyes flashed from blue to teal with his rising emotions, only for him to stop and take a deep breath, 'No. We'll find a way. Those people won't die in vain. I swear it. I'll find a way to destroy the androids and bring peace back to the world. Gohan wouldn't give up on it, and he wouldn't want me to either.' No matter how absurd the odds seemed, he still had to keep hope alive. After all, that was all that drove him.

He turned to his clock next to him, flipping the alarm switch to off before it started spazzing out. He looked at the date and saw that it was, in fact, the day of Orientation; or so Iruka told him. It was the day he was supposed to be assigned a team for his shinobi career. It'd only been five days since he graduated the Academy and killed Mizuki, surprisingly those five days were a bit of a blur to him seeing as his schedule consisted of visiting Bulma in the hospital, and training with his sword out in the forests. Occasionally he would venture into the village only to have some random girl from the Academy try and flirt with him, or be glared at by some random bystanders. Because of that he would try to avoid other villagers whenever possible.

The saiyan saw the time said '7:20', and hopped out of bed to get ready. He showered and brushed his teeth, got dressed in an outfit that consisted of a blue short sleeved T-shirt with a white capsule corp. logo printed on the front, gray sweatpants, and blue boots; then ate half a box of cereal in one sitting. Before leaving he tied his hitai-ate around his right bicep.

On his way to the Academy building he passed by the Ramen shop that Iruka treated him and Naruto to the night of graduation. Boy, was that an event.

 _Iruka and the entire crew working at Ichiraku Ramen stared in horror at the eating machines known as Naruto Uzumaki and Trunks Briefs. The two boys took it upon themselves to have an eating competition of sorts that would possibly leave Iruka in debt, and possibly clean the Ramen shop out of all inventory._

 _The chunin thought he'd seen it all when it came to Naruto's eating habits, but Trunks was almost_ _ **worse**_ _! Naruto had at least six good stacks of bowls lined up around him while Trunks was ahead by at least two stacks. Iruka and Teuchi stared back and forth between one another, knowing that they both would be financially screwed by the time those boys finished._

The demi-saiyan chuckled. His mother did say that his father was known to go through thousands of zeni worth of groceries in a month, on his own. Had he been thinking he would have warned Iruka, but hey, live and learn.

He stepped inside the Academy building to see things as they normally were, students up and chatting with one another, obvious excitement over getting to officially begin their shinobi careers no doubt. The teen saw a booth that sat Naruto along with a wide gap of space that sat Sasuke. The blonde noticed Trunks and waved his attention.

Trunks sat down next to his friend and the two fist bumped. He turned to see Sasuke pass him a side glare, but turned away in a snobbish manner. It made Trunks question what he did wrong, which Naruto noticed.

"Ah don't pay attention to Sasuke-teme, he's just a stuck up snob."

Made sense to Trunks. It's not his fault he beat Sasuke in a sparring match that the Uchiha even tried to _cheat_ in. Oh well, what could you do.

It was then that the door's barged opened to Ino and Sakura, apparently having raced all the way to the Academy as judged by their labored breathing and sweaty faces.

The blonde said smugly to Sakura, "Heh, looks like I win, Forehead!"

Sakura said just as smugly to her rival, "What are you talking about, my foot was _obviously_ a fraction of an inch ahead!"

Trunks noticed Naruto's head was turned almost completely around to get a look at the girls by the door. His cheeks were stained red in a strong blush and his mouth was hanging open, "Sakura…" He moaned. Trunks followed the blondes eyes to see that he was staring directly at the pinkette.

Sakura and Ino's heads both turned Naruto's way, making Uzumaki blush even further. 'Heh, guess she does like me.'

The two girls looked at the space that sat the dobe of their class, and noticed that right next to him sat Trunks, an empty space, and _then_ Sasuke. How lucky could a girl get! Sakura and Ino traded fierce glares before rushing over in another race.

The fact that two girls were running his way made Naruto leap up in his seat in excitement, "Hey Sakura-cha-" Sakura threw Naruto out of his seat, effectively shocking Trunks at the girls hostility.

Surprisingly for him, the pinkette was rather timid when she spoke to him, "Morning Trunks, do you mind if I sit next to you?"

Ino immediately cut in, shoving Sakura to the side, "Move it Forehead, _I'm_ sitting next to Trunks and Sasuke!"

" _I_ was here first!" Sakura shot back.

" _I_ walked inside the classroom first, everyone saw it!"

Now more girls started to gather around the duo.

" _Actually, I_ was here first. So I should get to sit with Trunks and Sasuke."

"What are you guys talking about, I was here before any of you, _I'm_ sitting next to them."

'How embarrassing.' Sasuke thought. If there was one semi-positive thing about this, at least 50% of the unnecessary attention was taken away from him. He continued brooding.

This pointlessness of the situation was beginning to irritate the saiyan. 'This...is embarrassing.' Trunks groaned in his head.

XXXX

From inside the Hokage's office a group of would be leader Jonin and the Hokage were observing the classroom of genin through the crystal ball.

"It would appear that most of the girls are more interested in romance than anything else. What a shame." Hiruzen spoke out loud, the Jonin all agreeing.

The ball then showed Trunks, who was looking less than impressed at all of the girls fawning over him than some would expect.

Asuma spoke up, "So, that's the visitor? He doesn't look like much to me."

"But he did manage to kill Mizuki-teme, or so I've heard." Kurenai answered him.

The Hokage nodded, confirming Kurenai's statement. "It's true. According to Iruka, Trunks managed to effortlessly neutralize a high ranking Chunin."

"Hm, it really makes me wonder just what he's capable of." Kakashi voiced out loud.

Hiruzen turned to him, "And it's for that reason that I am sticking him on your team, especially seeing as you've had the most interaction with him than any other Jonin present."

Kakashi nodded. "Considering the full potential of his Ki abilities are unknown, I do want to take some one on one time with him so I can see if there's a way to... _neutralize_ , him if he became a threat."

"Understood. Just make sure you spend a fair amount of time with your other students as well." Hiruzen asked more than ordered.

They then got a view of Sasuke.

"That is the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre, correct?" Kurenai asked Hiruzen, receiving a nod.

The Hokage turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, I also want you to take charge of Sasuke-kun. For obvious reasons."

"I figured as such." Kakashi nodded.

XXX

The class' attention shifted to Iruka when he entered the door of the classroom. Sakura took the distraction as an opportunity to shove through Ino and take the seat in between Trunks and Sasuke. She stuck her tongue out at Ino and the rest of the girls.

If looks could kill, Sakura's head would have fell off.

"Alright everyone, take a seat." Iruka started. "As of today you are all ninja's. To get here you have faced difficult challenges and hardships. But that's nothing, what comes next will be far more difficult. Every single one of you are now Genin, beginner-level ninja. All Genin will be grouped together in a three-member squad, with the exception of one four member squad. Each squad will be led by a Jonin, an elite ninja."

Sakura and Ino's eyes widened at the mentioning of squad members. Ino's smirked down at Sakura, who was just one piew below her, "Heh, a three man squad. I wonder which one of us is gonna get Sasuke or Trunks on their team."

"How much you wanna bet I'll get both of them." Sakura smirked back.

Naruto turned to Trunks, "Hope I get you on my team."

"Same here. I don't think I'm comfortable enough around anyone else." Trunks admitted.

Naruto chuckled, "You can blow away a Chunin but you get nervous around everyone else here? That's insane."

Trunks also chuckled, "Ha, I guess you could say that."

Sasuke was less than thrilled about the idea, 'A three man squad. These idiots are just gonna hold me back.' His eyes trailed over to Trunks, 'But then again, I'll need him on my team to test myself against. If I'm ever going to beat Itachi, then I'm gonna have to beat him first.' He thought.

Iruka skimmed over his clipboard, "The teams have already been pre-selected. I will now announce the assignments." He began naming the teams. Some students cheered at their selection and others moaned. "Team 7, will be Trunks Briefs, Sakura Haruno,"

"YAY!" Sakura jumped out of her seat.

Ino growled.

"Sasuke Uchiha,"

"WHAT!?" Ino roared at Sakura. "Why do you get Sasuke on your team too!?"

Sakura shrugged cockily, "I called it didn't I? Looks like I win." At this Ino looked about ready to jump out of her seat and strangle Sakura. The other girls in the class gave her an equally aggressive glare.

"and Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura sweatdropped while Naruto cheered. He got his friend and his crush on his team. Trunks and Naruto fistbumped.

Hinata glanced at Naruto, 'Aw, I won't get to be on Naruto-kun's team.' She thought sadly.

"Team 8, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka."

"Team 10, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara."

Ino's head slammed down on the desk. "You've gotta be kidding me." She groaned.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the girls primadonna attitude. Choji continued chowing down on a bag of chips.

"Those are all the squads. You're Jonin will be here shortly." As Iruka left a band of Jonin walked in through the door to pick up their Genin. All except for Team 7's.

After a few minutes Sakura turned to Trunks, "Sure is taking our Jonin a while to get here, isn't it Trunks."

"Yeah, you'd think an ' _elite Jonin_ ' would show up on time. You're name's Sakura right?"

Sakura nodded happily, satisfied that a guy she actually liked was acknowledging her. She turned to her left to see Sasuke was still brooding as usual.

After another hour went by Naruto snapped, "What's taking him so long?!" He growled and hopped out of his seat. To ease his boredom he decided to pull one of his infamous pranks.

"Naruto, sit down and be patient!" Sakura snapped. The Uzumaki ignored her and proceeded to pick up a chalkboard eraser, a fox grin spreading on his face.

Naruto picked up a chair and placed it by the front door, stepping up on it and placing the eraser in a position between the door and the frame where it would fall on a person's head when they opened it.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You dobe, you seriously think that an elite Jonin's gonna fall for something so juvenile?" It was ironic that the Uchiha didn't have a problem with Naruto attempting a prank in the first place.

"Kiss my ass Sasuke-Teme. It's not like I have a lot of options in the _Academy classroom_." Naruto shot back.

"Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that you Baka!" Sakura shouted.

"Can't we all just get along?" Trunks asked, trying to keep the peace between his teammates. Naruto took his seat back next to Trunks. In all honesty, the saiyan was curious to see if the Jonin would fall for it.

After another half-hour flew by the door slowly opened, the eraser falling on top of a tuff of silver hair. Kakashi deadpanned.

"Hahaha, I got'em! He totally fell for it!" Naruto snickered while leveling a teasing finger at him.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, 'He fell for that? Is this guy really a Jonin?'

Sakura immediately started sucking up, "I told him it wasn't a good idea. I'm sorry, Naruto's so hard headed he just wouldn't listen." In reality she was cheering on the inside.

Trunks immediately recognised the man, but didn't voice it. 'I remember him.'

Kakashi put a hand up to his chin, "Hmmm, let's see. My first impression of this group...is you're a bunch of idiots." Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Trunks sweatdropped.

XXXXXXX

The group found themselves sitting on top of the buildings rooftop. Kakashi was standing against the guardrail facing them.

"Alright," Kakashi started, "Why don't you introduce yourselves. One at a time."

"Introduce ourselves? What are we supposed to say?" Sakura asked.

"You know, your names, likes and dislikes, hobbies, and your goals for the future." Kakashi said.

Naruto had his arms folded behind his head, "Why don't you go first? So we can have an example."

Kakashi shrugged, "Okay. My names Kakashi, I like and dislike a few things, I have many hobbies, and my goals for the future are...none of your business." Team 7 deadpanned.

'He only told us his first name.' They thought.

The copy-nin pointed to Naruto, "You're up first shortie."

Naruto happily answered, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen, and the ramen Iruka-sensei get's me at the Ichiraku ramen shop, I hate the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the water in the ramen cup, and my hobbies are trying different kinds of ramen and comparing them. I also train whenever I get the chance."

'Well at least that's redeeming factor.' Kakashi thought.

"And my dream, is to be Hokage. So everyone in the village can look up to me and respect me like I'm somebody."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, 'Well he's certainly grown up in an interesting way.' He nodded to Sakura, "Go pinkie."

Sakura's eye twitched at Kakashi's name for her, but she kept her cool and spoke, "My name is Sakura Haruno. What I like is, or the people I like…"She glanced at Trunks and Sasuke and blushed, "my hobbies are…" She once again glanced at Trunks and Sasuke and squealed, making Kakashi sweatdrop. "Oh, and what I hate...is NARUTO!" Comical tears streamed down the blondes face.

'Harsh.' Trunks thought.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, huh. You're up duck butt."

Sasuke took a moment, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like very many things and I dislike a lot of things. My hobbies are training to surpass... _certain_ people." His eyes trailed over to Trunks. "And my goal, well, ambition, is to kill a certain man." Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened.

'He's so hot!' Sakura squealed.

'I hope he doesn't mean me.' Naruto grimaced.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, 'I knew it.' He thought. He nodded towards Trunks, "You."

Trunks cleared his throat, "My name is Trunks Briefs, I like training, eating, and perfecting my swordsmanship. I hate those who disturb the peace and tranquility of others, and my goal," If one looked into his eyes, they could see a life filled with sadness, agony, and darkness. Only Kakashi could see it, "Is to grow strong enough to _kill_ the monsters that plagued my home."

If a pin dropped on the rooftop one could hear it. It seemed as if time stopped for the five people gathered around. A dissimilar array of thoughts flooded through the minds of those who listened,

'M-Monsters?' Sakura thought.

'What could he mean?' Naruto thought.

'I know that feeling.' Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

'...interesting.' Kakashi thought. He put on a smile that would only be noticeable through his visible eye, "So, that's good. You're all unique with your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto got excited, "Our first mission?! What is it!"

"It's a survival exercise. We will be weeding out the weak Genin from the twenty-nine that graduated. Only ten will be allowed to move forward while the rest are sent back to the Academy." Kakashi explained to which Team 7 nodded. Kakashi turned around, "See you at the training grounds first thing in the morning. Oh, I almost forgot, I would skip breakfast if I were you. You'd puke." He fazed out.

XXXX

It was six in the morning and the sky was just hitting daybreak. Naruto and Sakura were practically walking in their sleep while Trunks and Sasuke were up as if it were the afternoon. Trunks had his sword strapped to his back and was dressed in just a black tanktop and blue jeans.

"He tells us to get here early, but he doesn't show up on time?" Trunks stated more than asked.

Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes, "I'm really starting to hate that guy."

Sasuke and Sakura couldn't disagree with him. The teens sat around in a huddle for the next hour. Naruto decided to take a nap, Sasuke continued to brood, and Trunks was sparring with his sword out in the open, doing combat against various other combatants that only he could see. Sakura was ogling at the swordsman out in front of her, the fact that he was wearing a tank top that showed off his muscles perfectly only made her drool.

"Hi guys." Kakashi said with a small wave.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto snapped.

Kakashi nervously held up his hands, "Hehe, well you see a black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way." Trunks, Sasuke, and Sakura deadpanned while Naruto growled. Kakashi cleared his throat before walking over to a tree stump, he pulled out an alarm clock before setting it down, "Okay, it's set for noon." He pulled out three small silver bells from his jacket pocket, making the four Genin raise a questionable eyebrow, "You have until then to grab these bells, if you don't then you miss lunch, simple as that."

'HUH!" Naruto screeched. The thought didn't sit well with Trunks either.

Kakashi pointed to three sets of tree stumps sitting side by side out in the open, "You'll be tied to those stumps and will have to watch as I eat my lunch in front of you."

The Genin grimaced, 'So that's why he told us not to eat breakfast...' They thought in unison.

It was then that Sakura noticed, "Wait a minute, there's only three bells when there are four of us."

Kakashi eye smiled, "And that means that at least one of you will be destined to fail and sent back to the Academy. Now, you have no restrictions on weapons, abilities, or techniques. If you're going to retrieve the bells then you're free to come at me with the intent to kill me."

Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and snickered, "Pffft, you couldn't even dodge that eraser, we'd slaughter you!"

"Well, you know what they say, the weakest dogs have the loudest bark. It's not like I would need to keep my guard up around a loser who failed the exam twice." Kakashi said casually.

The word loser seemed to cut a nerve in the blonde, Naruto growled before flipping a kunai and charging at Kakashi. Trunks was about to jump in and stop him, but before he knew it Naruto's arm was pinned behind his back with his own kunai pressed against his temple.

'Wow. So he really is a Jonin.' Sasuke thought.

'Even I could barely see him.' An awestruck Trunks thought.

Kakashi released Naruto. "You should pay more attention, I didn't even say start yet." Naruto huffed and rubbed his sore arm. "I will say though, you did come at me with the full intention of killing me, so I guess I'm beginning to like you guys." Kakashi turned to the rest of team 7, "Now, scatter." The four teens fazed out.

After five minutes, Kakashi noticed no trace of his Genin left behind for him to follow, "Hm, looks like they got pretty good at hiding." The copy-nin turned around to see Naruto standing right out in the open with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"You and me, right here, right now, fair and square!" He challenged.

Kakashi cocked his head.

Trunks was hovering 80 feet off the ground, overlooking the scene, "Naruto, what are you doing?" He asked himself.

"Y'know, compared to the others, you're a little...off." Kakashi admitted.

Naruto growled, "The only thing off here is your haircut!" His hands flashed through handsigns, " **Wind Release: Air Bullets!"**

The Jonin's eyes widened as he hopped around in a blur to avoid the pockets of air that shot after him. 'Air bullets?! How does he know a jutsu like that at his age? And how does he have that much Chakra?'

Sasuke was just as surprised, "Since when does that dobe know a technique like that?"

After barely brushing past a bullet that grazed his shirt shoulder, tearing the fabric, Kakashi decided to move in for the offensive. When Naruto fired his last ball, Kakashi fazed from his view, shocking the blonde.

"Wh-Where did he-" He felt a sudden... _intrusion,_ for lack of better words shoot into his rectum before he was launched into the air.

" **Sennen Goroshi!"** Naruto was sent into the nearby pond.

Trunks winced, "Ouch, that had to hurt." But now it was his turn.

Kakashi dusted his hands with a satisfied smile. His senses went on overdrive as he felt a presence pop up behind him. He snapped around to block a punch by Trunks, one that was aimed at his chest. The scarecrows eye widened in pain and shock as the force of the punch had the equivalent to a moving car (Like they would know what that is). Kakashi's feet dug into the dirt and the bones in his arms rattled.

The Jonin snapped a kick into Trunks chest which he also used as a springboard to launch himself back for distance.

The saiyan pulled his sword from his holster and dashed after the Jonin. As he closed the distance he swung the blade in a horizontal arc that swept through the Jonin, splitting him in half.

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened. The pinkette almost screamed at the brutality of the scene.

As the pieces landed the saiyan froze, what has he done? Did he really just kill that man? Hoping his eyes were wrong he slowly turned to see two halves of a wooden log lying in the grass.

Trunks sighed in relief. Good news was, he didn't kill the man, Bad news was, he got away. He heard splashing coming from the pond and turned to see a soaking Naruto crawling out, shivering like a wet cat.

Naruto gave his rear a comforting rub that made Trunks snicker.

It was time he came up with a plan, "Hey Naruto," He got the blondes attention, "I think I have an idea,"

From within several yards out Kakashi was observing the two boys from within the forest. The man was huffing and panting from a lack of breath, "Damn *huff*, I barely made it *huff* out of that. If I screwed that up I would've died. Maybe I shouldn't have told him to come at me to kill me." His interest grew as he saw Naruto summon up seven shadow clones.

"Alright," Trunks said satisfied, "Now, I'm gonna draw him out and then your gonna jump him, Ok?"

'I could have came up with that.' Naruto grunted. "Alright, do it."

Trunks sensed the forest area that he assumed Kakashi would be in, and grinned. He took another sweep and noticed that Sakura and Sasuke weren't in the area near him. That settled it, "Now I get to try out that new technique I've been working on." He held out his arms toward the forest.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow in curiosity at Trunks rapid arm movements, the limbs flying in various different directions in a blur that only a doujutsu user could follow. The saiyans hands crossed over his chest, before coming out and bringing his palms forward, thumbs and index fingers touching in the form of a misshaped diamond.

" **BURNING ATTACK!"** A yellow sphere of energy fired from the teens hands and towards Kakashi.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" The Jonin screamed as the sphere hit a tree and detonated, the explosion and heat disintegrating and uprooting all trees and foliage in near contact.

The tremor knocked Sakura out of a tree, lucky for her Sasuke caught her before she hit the ground.

"Wh-what did he just do!?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto stood mouth agape at the aftermath of the attack. The blast carved a gash in the earth half a mile long and wide, leaving charred dirt and ash in it's wake.

"Oops." Trunks squeaked, lowering his steaming hands.

"Yeah. Oops." Naruto confirmed. His clones nodded in agreement. It was then the blonde felt the ground vibrate under him. Before he could react two hands sprung up around his ankles and drug him into the ground, leaving only his head above. Trunks and Naruto's clones took a battle stance as Kakashi jumped out of the ground like a mole.

With a battle cry the mob of clones swarmed Kakashi who pulled a kunai and slashed away, the Bunshins popping in a burst of white vapor. Almost like he had eyes on the back of his head he sidestepped a punch from Trunks who sailed past him. Kakashi took advantage of that by grabbing the back of Trunks tank top shirt to fling him onto the ground, the whiplash making the saiyans head spin.

Trunks felt a knee get planted on his chest to keep him flat on his back. With his mind boggling he couldn't really comprehend that he was strong enough to toss the man off him.

With an eye smile Kakashi looked down at him, "Yo." The man greeted. "You know, you should really work on-" A flurry of shuriken struck him on the entirety of the jonin's right side. The blades also sticking out of his head.

In shock Trunks watched as the man was thrown off his body and into a bloody heap in the grass. He heard footsteps run up behind him; he turned to see it was Sasuke.

Naruto, who was still stuck under the ground from the neck down, looked back and forth between the corpse and Sasuke in horror, "S-Sasuke, what was that for!? You took that way too far!"

The Uchiha ignored him, 'No, it couldn't be that easy to beat him.' The corpse popped in a wave of smoke, revealing a log with shuriken sticking out of it. 'Damn! I knew it!' It was then that he felt a rumbling under the ground below him. Knowing what was about to happen, he would have moved, if only his reflexes would allow it.

"Smooth move Sasuke."

"You're in no better shape than I am, dobe." The two were boys were both heads sticking out of the dirt.

Sakura wandered through the forest, having got left behind by Sasuke who went to challenge Kakashi. She managed to hear the familiar sound of their bickering voices coming from an area and continued to follow it. The pinkette was led out of the forest and froze when she saw what she swore looked like her teammates severed heads lying on the ground.

Naruto was the first to notice her, "Hey Sakura!"

The girl shrieked and fainted.

.

.

.

"Smooth move Naruto." Sasuke mocked.

Trunks and Kakashi stood in a clearing, the saiyan facing the jonin with his sword unsheathed.

The copy-nin was actually in a fighting stance, he hadn't imagined he would have to _try_ against a genin half his age. "I must admit, you're much stronger than the others. Wouldn't have thought that Ki would do that for a person."

"It's not just Ki, I had a great master as well."

Kakashi nodded. "Well, let's see how well he prepared you." The Jonin held up the bells as a form of challenge. The saiyan charged in a horizontal swing from his sword that would be aimed to slice the man in half.

Kakashi leaned all the way back to where the back of his head nearly touched the ground to avoid it before snapping a kick into Trunks chest, picking the teen up off the ground. The jonin maneuvered behind the saiyan as he landed and rammed an elbow into the younger boys back, making him stumble.

Trunks delivered a back kick to the Jonin who dissipated in a burst of smoke, making the saiyan kick a tree log in half.

"That's getting really annoying." Trunks growled.

"But it's necessary." A voice casually noted from behind him making him swing around to see Kakashi's face before he was given a kick to the stomach, making stumble back a few paces. It didn't hurt the saiyan, but the surprise got him. "It's strange, somehow I get the feeling you're not coming at me to kill me."

Trunks smirked, "Of course not. If I did, I promise you I would have."

Kakashi then remembered the attack the boy attempted earlier and the damage it caused. Something told the Jonin the kid wasn't bluffing.

Trunks could sense Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's presence in the area near him. They had to be close enough to be watching them. The demi-saiyan took a glance past the Jonin and into the woods past him, and noticed the three were indeed watching them from within the trees. Whether Kakashi noticed them the saiyan didn't know, but he was going to need their help if he was gonna get those bells.

As if he could read Trunks mind, Sasuke turned to Naruto, "Hey Naruto, I think I have a plan on how we can get those bells."

"What is it Sasuke?" Sakura was the one to ask for Naruto.

"Simple. Naruto's gonna make _only_ three clones to go after Kakashi, simply because we don't need him to Kawarimi out of our field of view. Then I'm gonna use Phoenix Flower Jutsu on the surrounding area to keep him closed in. Hopefully Trunks will know to go for the bells or keep him restrained, if not, you will Naruto and I'll get the bells."

Naruto and Sakura nodded, "Alright!"

As Trunks moved to charge Kakashi again, the two heard a battle cry coming from the trees. Four Naruto's leapt out at the Jonin who once again pulled a kunai.

" **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"** A volley of fireballs ignited the area around Kakashi, keeping the Jonin confined in a ring with Trunks and Naruto.

Three of Naruto's clones charged at Kakashi, fists pulled back in preparation of a punch to the face. Kakashi put his arms up to block but was met with a surprise when he felt two arms put him in a full nelson. He managed to turn his head enough to get a glimpse of lavender hair.

"Naruto, grab the bells now!" Trunks yelled.

The clones hopped up and delivered a punch to Kakashi's face before dissipating. The real Naruto managed to slide in and snatch the three bells from Kakashi's waist before kicking off his chest. Trunks tossed the man over him, who managed to twist and land gracefully on his feet like a cat.

One couldn't see it, but from under his mask Kakashi was smiling. He was impressed.

Naruto quickly tossed a bell to Trunks and Sasuke, the latter of whom managed to jump in as soon as Kakashi was restrained.

Sakura gasped as she realized she was the only one without a bell. Trunks, knowing that being a shinobi probably meant more to her than it did to him, tossed the girl his bell. With a reluctant hand she caught it. "Trunks-kun, you don't have to-" The demi saiyan put a finger to his lips to shush her.

Kakashi gave an eyesmile to the four, "Congratulations those of you who actually managed to get a bell. Even though you have shown enough skill to complete the challenge, my rules still stand. Trunks will be tied up while the rest of you eat."

"What! That's so unfair, he worked just as hard as the rest of us, he deserves to eat as much as we do." Sakura argued.

"Yeah Kakashi-sensei, what gives? That's a load of bull!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi. Even Sasuke couldn't disagree.

Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe, but that's the way a shinobi's life is. Sometimes one member of a squad must fall so the others can stay safe. Happens all the time. Now follow me."

Trunks was promptly tied to the wood stump while Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were given bento boxes. Kakashi told the four he would be leaving to give a report to the Hokage, only after giving them strict instruction on not feeding the saiyan. If they did, then they all failed.

The second Kakashi left the four, Naruto took two bites of his meal and handed the box to Trunks.

Startled, the saiyan said, "Naruto, you don't have to give me anything. You don't need to fail for my sake."

"Screw that guy! If it weren't for you we wouldn't have been able to get the bells in the first place."

Sakura took two bites of her food, "Naruto's right. Here." She tried to hand her box to the saiyan who she noticed couldn't feed himself with his hands tied. She smiled before picking up a bit of food with her chopsticks and bringing it up to Trunks mouth. "Open wide."

Blushing furiously, the saiyan did as he was told and let Sakura feed him. When he ate all that was in her box, she then fed him Naruto's box, and even Sasuke was willing to give him his food.

From the trees, Kakashi was overlooking the scene, satisfied with what he saw. 'Time to give them a scare.'

The man appeared in front of the Genin, effectively shocking Naruto into shouting. Kakashi's eye held a look of absolute _fury_ present in them. "YOU!" He boomed. Somehow a gust of wind picked up behind the man and whipped the teens hair and clothes in a frenzy. "You all broke the rules. I hope you all are ready to accept the consequences." His hands went through a series of signs. "Any last words?"

Sasuke was surprisingly the first one to speak, "We're all on this squad and we're all in this together."

"Yeah! I'm not sitting by and letting my teammate suffer just to follow your rules!" Naruto spoke up.

Sakura nodded, "We're all in this together! The three of us gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!

The saiyan looked back and forth between his team and Kakashi. Were they really willing to jeopardize their careers just for the sake of giving him food? Guilt was beginning to bear down on him.

Kakashi began to approach the four, killing intent building with every step, "The three of you are one, huh?" He leaned in, "You pass." The killing intent disappeared in an instant.

"What?" The four said in unison.

"You pass. Congratulations, you're the first team I've ever had pass this specific test. Which is a huge accomplishment." The man walked up to Trunks and with a swipe of his kunai, cut his rope bonds. Trunks rubbed his hands to ease out the tension of having them restrained. Even though he could have easily tore through the ropes himself.

Sakura asked, "But why Kakashi? We went against your orders."

"And that's specifically why you passed. All of the other Genin I tested actually followed my orders, and that's where they messed up. They simply couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must be able to see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends and comrades, are worse than scum." He motioned for the four to follow him.

The four were led to a large piece of black stone with calligraphy inscribed on it. The stone was protruding from out of the grass. Kakashi's voice became much more sullen compared to how he usually talked, as if he was reliving past experiences, "Have any of you ever got to look at this stone? These are the names of ninja's who have been hailed as heroes of our village."

Naruto grinned, "Oh yeah! Well that's gonna be me someday."

Kakashi continued, "They were hailed as a special kind of hero. These shinobi were...K.I.A."

Naruto's grin widened, "K.I.A? That sounds cool!"

"They're dead Naruto." Trunks said simply.

"Oh." The blonde's mood dropped.

"Some of my closest friends names have been engraved on this stone. Either having been killed during missions or casualties of the third shinobi war. Life as a Shinobi isn't easy. It's brutal, tough, and grim. If this is the lifestyle that you choose you have to know that you will be enduring these hardships for the sake of this village." Kakashi finished. Although he didn't turn to face his team, the man was expecting some sort of reaction out of them.

Trunks had seen enough in his life not to be fazed by anything this world threw at him.

Sakura felt that this was merely a test of her love. If she truly cared about Sasuke or Trunks, then she could endure the challenges that being a shinobi gave her.

Sasuke had one goal and one goal only. Whatever he had to do to make _him_ pay, he would face it. He wasn't scared.

Naruto clenched his fists. A grin slowly clambering it's way across his face. He raised his fist to the air, "Yeah, well I'm not scared. I'm gonna be Hokage and I'll overcome whatever challenges come my way, and pulverize whoever stands in my way. Believe it!" (A/N:I swear that will be one of the _extremely_ rare time's he ever says that.)

Kakashi turned and raised an eyebrow, 'Is that so? Hm, I haven't a doubt in my mind. And I think I owe it to your father to help you reach that goal.' The man eye smiled. "Well everyone, get some rest. Squad Seven starts their first mission tomorrow!"

"Yes!" Sakura cheered.

Sasuke and Trunks gave satisfied grins.

Naruto whooped and hollered, making a scene like he usually did. The group left the training ground, excited for their career to come.

XXX

A/N: To be honest, I rushed that ending. But give me a break it was 19 pages long on Google Docs. Anyways, now we can get into the nitty gritty of the story starting next chapter, which, I'm hoping will begin the trip to Wave. For those of you who read my authors note before it was deleted I was explaining how a new law was passed that would limit our internet freedom. The TPP. After I took a moment to think things through, I decided to hell with giving up, and decided that I'm gonna keep writing until I'm forced off this site. I would also advise you guys to do some research on the TPP, just so you know what affect it potentially has on this site.

All I have to say, DarkSun82 signing out!


	6. Wave

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto.

XXXX

" _Sasuke, I'm at point B_." The Uchiha's voice radio'd in.

" _Sakura, I'm at point C."_

" _Naruto, I'm at point A, dattebayo."_

Kakashi's irritable voice chimed in, "You're slow, Naruto. What about you Trunks?"

The saiyan was hovering over the forest that his team was positioned in. His eyes scanned over the forest floor for any signs of the target they were supposed to capture. It was actually his idea to go for an aerial position to give his team an additional perspective.

" _Trunks, I'm at 200 feet over the forest floor."_ He voiced into the mic attached to his ear.

The Jonin nodded from his position within the forest brush. It wasn't his job to help his team catch the target, but to at least keep them organized and guide them closer to it. "Good, now Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, what's your approximate distance from the target?"

In unison the three moved in closer to a position behind their own tree.

"We're at least five meters. Just give me the signal." Naruto said.

"I'm ready too." Sasuke spoke.

Sakura nodded, "So am I."

Kakashi waited a moment. Then two. Before calling, "Now!"

The three shot out from their position and lunged after their small furry subject. Before the cat could leap away, Naruto managed to wrap his arms around it. "I got it I got it!" He called as he struggled to hold the flailing and screeching feline.

"Can you identify a red ribbon on it's right ear?" Kakashi voiced into Sasuke's mic.

The Uchiha turned around to observe the small brown cat that was clawing away at Naruto's face, who was letting out comical yelps and cries of pain. Sakura was smiling at the act that she thought was adorable. Sasuke noted the small red bow, "Yeah, we got a positive I.D."

Trunks landed in to attempt helping Naruto with the cat, who, actually became much more mellowed out when in Trunks arms.

'He's so good with animals.' Sakura sighed dreamily.

'I freakin hate cats!' Naruto groaned as he rubbed the scratches on his face.

XXXXX

Within the Academy, the five stood within the Mission Assignment room with a look of disgust present on their faces. Except for Naruto that is. The cat, who's name is Tora, was getting the life squeezed out of it by it's overweight and overjoyed owner, the wife of the Fire Daimyo.

"Ohhh thank you thank you thaaank you for bringing me my baby back." The woman thanks while giving her screeching cat a loving yet painful hug.

'Geez, no wonder it ran away.' Trunks thought sympathetically as he watched comical tears stream out of the cat's eyes.

Naruto stood with a triumphant grin and his arms crossed, 'Heh, stupid kitty deserves to get squashed.'

The Hokage picked up a piece of paper and recorded the team's mission success. "Now then, for squad 7's next mission we have plenty available. Among them are babysitting the chief counselors daughter, helping his wife do the shopping, mowing their law-"

"Noooooooo!" Naruto groaned out loud, "I want something challenging and exciting, not this little kids stuff, come on old man!"

His teammates couldn't disagree. This was getting rather boring and tiresome.

A vein throbbed on Iruka's forehead, "How dare you!" He rose from out of his seat, "You're just a genin with no experience! You start off with simple missions to develop your skills and improve yourself!"

Naruto shot back, "Are you kidding me! Babysitting's not a mission it's just a stupid- aauuaghh" a fist crashed into the back of his head, knocking him face first into the floor.

"Will you put a lid on it." Kakashi groaned.

Naruto rubbed his head and pouted in a childish way. The act made Iruka and Sarutobi smile.

Sarutobi put his pipe up to his mouth and chuckled, "It would appear that Naruto wants to prove that he isn't just a brat, but a former brat. And he want's a real mission. So be it."

"Huh?" Team 7 gasped.

"Since you are all so determined, I will give you a C-Ranked mission. The fact that you are the only four man squad makes this all the more reasonable." Hiruzen skimmed through a list of possible assignments, "Ah, you four will be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Really? Yes! Who? Who? Is it a princess? Or a counselor?"

"Don't be so impatient. I'll bring him in now." He motioned to a Chunin standing in the corner of the room.

After the man left out of the room, the door slowly opened to reveal an elderly man with glasses and a bottle of alcohol. The man's eyes were red and droopy, an obvious sign that he was drunk.

With a slurred voice, the man said, "Whaa, just a bunch of snot nosed kids?" He took another swig from his bottle. His eyes trailed over to Naruto, "You, short one with the idiotic look on his face, you expect me to believe that you're a ninja?"

Oblivious to the fact that he was insulted, Naruto laughed and said, "Hahaha, who's the short one with the idiotic look on- huh?" He noticed that he was shorter than Sasuke, Sakura, and Trunks.

"Lemme at him! I'll pulverise that bastard!" Naruto found himself being restrained by Trunks and Kakashi. Sasuke and Sakura were pinching the bridge of their nose in embarrassment.

The man continued, "The names Tazuna, I'm a professional bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world so I need you to get me there even if it's at the cost of your life."

Kakashi nodded, "Nice to meet you. And don't worry, this is what my team signed up for." He slapped Naruto on the back of the head.

XXXXXX

As the group made their first steps outside of the village gates, Naruto cheered, "Alllriighht!"

"What are you so excited about, Naruto?" Sakura asked, growing slightly irritated.

The blonde got a feel for his surroundings, taking in his sights, "This is the first time I ever got to leave the village! I'm officially a traveler now, dattebayo!"

Tazuna groaned before he barked, "Are you really expecting me to put my life in the hands of this runt? He's a joke!"

Trunks, having grown tired of Tazuna's treatment of his friend, tapped him on the shoulder, "You know, our mission is only to get you home in one piece. I don't think anyone said you had to be conscious." Tazuna's eyes widened. The fact that the boy had a sword strapped to his back didn't make him any less intimidating. Grinning, knowing that he got his point across, Trunks finished, "One more crack like that and it's lights out old man."

Kakashi's eye widened. 'Wasn't expecting that.' But he smiled behind his mask, "Alright everyone, let's get moving."

The group walked down a set dirt path for a few miles. There was forest on either side of them that allowed them to hear birds chirping, cicadas hissing, and the rustling sound of leaves in the trees. There was a cool breeze that funneled through that kept them from grieving under the hot sun.

As she walked, Sakura turned to Trunks. The pinkette always found the saiyan interesting, mainly because he was different. He was so polite, calm, and well-mannered compared to almost all of the other genin, he was so toned and muscular for someone their age, he had a different style of dress, and he carried a sword strapped to his back.

She noticed that the saiyan today was actually dressed out in attire similar to theirs. He wore a blue open-collar tracksuit jacket that had a white inside and trim, the jacket he left open to his black t-shirt, he also wore blue track pants and white shinobi sandals (Basically his whole outfit is the same as Boruto's but with a different color scheme). The pinkette still couldn't take her eye's off the boys sword, he brought it everywhere with him, no matter where they went, and judging by how he almost cut Kakashi in two, it showed that he wasn't afraid to use it.

"Hey Trunks," She got the saiyans attention, "I was wondering, if you don't mind me asking, what's with the sword? You bring it with you everywhere we go." Although they didn't voice it, everyone else was wondering the same thing.

Trunks pulled the blade out of it's holster, and glanced over it, taking in all of the memories that he had with the blade. "I can answer that. This sword was given to me by someone important. A man named Tapion who me and my mother had to care for and look after. He was severely injured by the same beings that terrorised my home. He taught me how to use it, and even became one of the few friends that I've ever had. Since my mom lacked the medical tools needed to keep him alive, he began to suffer. Eventually I had to put him out of his misery." His voice became darker the more the saiyan spoke, and everyone could see why. Had they known that the history behind that sword would be so depressing, they wouldn't have asked.

Naruto spoke up, "You keep mentioning these guys that ruined your home, who were they?"

Trunks face darkened and his fists clenched tight. Kakashi noticed.

"I think that'll be left not discussed." The scarecrow said.

The six continued their journey in awkward silence. Eventually, they crossed over a small puddle of water, which seemed odd to Trunks, considering it hasn't rained at all in the past few days.

He could hear a rippling coming from the puddle, and faster than he could react a being rose from the water, and threw another like it. The two had a long spiked chain connecting them together that they used to wrap and bound Kakashi, leaving the man helpless.

"Do it!" The attacker told his brother, the two merging with the ground on either side of Kakashi.

In a terrifying show of brutality, Kakashi was ripped to shreds right in front of the genin's and Tazuna's eyes. The pieces fell to the ground in a pile. Sakura screamed. Sasuke stared in horror.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted.

Trunks growled, 'No...he just died and I didn't stop it! Not again. I won't let it happen again!" He declared in his head.

The enemy shinobi threw their chain in the air in an attempt to ensnare Naruto. Sasuke acted fast by throwing a shuriken and kunai that caused the chain to get caught and get stuck to the trunk of a tree.

"I-I can't move!" One of the shinobi gasped.

"We're stuck!" His brother noticed.

Trunks unsheathed his sword. "Bingo."

A series of flashes and ethereal streaks passed through the chunin, before they went still, almost frozen in time. Trunks fazed in front of his bewildered teammates, sword held out to the side, slick with blood. He took a moment to stand straight and put his sword back in the holster.

The second he did, both the shinobi's arms and heads flew off, blood shooting out of the open stumps like spigots. Sakura screamed again and jumped back, scared of getting blood on her. Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna were equally shocked.

Trunks turned around to see the enemy shinobi remains slumped to the ground in a fast growing puddle of blood.

"Well that was gruesome." A familiar voice cut in, making the genin and Tazuna gasp and turn around. Kakashi was completely unharmed and standing with an eye smile. "Yo!" He said with a slight wave.

"Kakashi-sensei, we saw you get killed! How are you still alive!?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded to the side, making Naruto look to see a pile of tree stumps lying on the ground. "Substitution." Naruto realized.

"Sorry to scare you guys like that, but I was wanting to make sure who they were after. Only Trunks killed them before I could make sure."

"Sorry about that." Trunks apologised.

Kakashi waved his hand, "Don't be. You did your duty and protected everyone. No harm in that." Kakashi's observed the heads that lied in the dirt, eyes wide open in shock. "Gozu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers. These were missing-nin from Kirigakure. Missing nin don't just randomly attack shinobi of other villages, meaning that they had to be after something, _someone_."

The fact that Kakashi was staring dead at him made Tazuna bow his head. He needed to confess, "You're right, this mission probably is outside your line of duties. It turns out that an extremely dangerous man wants me dead." He lowered his head, "I'm sure you've heard his name before. The wealthy shipping tycoon, a man named Gato."

"Gato?" Kakashi asked, "From Gato Industries? It's said that he's one of the world's most wealthy people."

The bridge builder continued, "Yes, he officially runs a shipping company, but he secretly sells drugs and other illegal items using ninjas; and gang members to take over businesses in other countries. He's a horrible man."

"I take it the bridge is in his way?" Trunks asked.

Tazuna nodded, "If I manage to get that bridge completed, then it'll allow us to freely do trade which will stabilize the economy in Wave."

Things were starting to make sense to Kakashi, but one thing still stuck out, "I'm sure you have a good reason as to why you didn't tell us this beforehand, but lying isn't acceptable. They're only Genin, and this mission is at least a B-Rank. It's a stretch that they're doing a C-Rank at all."

Tazuna eyes narrowed, "The wave country is extremely poor, even the feudal lord has little money. Naturally we won't have much either. Not enough for an expensive B rank mission.

If you quit now, I'll definitely be killed." He took a deep breath and tried to make it seem as if it wasn't so bad, "But don't worry about it. If I die my ten year old grandson will just cry for a few days. Maybe a few weeks. Oh, and my daughter will live a sad life hating leaf ninjas forever, but it won't be your fault, not at all." The look on their faces showed that Tazuna was playing the guilt card, and he played it rather well. He had them eating out the palm of his hand.

Trunks turned to Kakashi, "Then I'm definitely helping. I'm not just gonna leave this man to die."

"I wanna prove to myself that I can handle this. Let's continue with the mission." Naruto said with determination. Sasuke agreed with him.

Although she didn't voice it, or even show it, Sakura was scared, 'I _really_ think we should head back to the village.'

The copy-nin sighed, "I guess we have no choice then, we'll protect you at least until you get back to your country." said Kakashi, feeling slightly guilty over thinking about abandoning the man.

Although the elderly man appeared humble on the outside, on the inside he was grinning, the guilt card worked and he knew it.

XXXXX

Team seven was on their way to wave country by boat. The further in they went, the more fog started to build up, obstructing their vision.

"The fog's so thick, I can't see ahead." Sakura said, having stated the obvious to everyone else.

Sasuke sat staring pliantly into the mist and water. Naruto watched Trunks wipe his sword clean with a black bandana that the saiyan carried in his jacket pocket.

"Hey Trunks, you think you could help me use a sword?" The Uzumaki asked the saiyan.

Not taking his eyes off his blade, Trunks shrugged, "Sure, I guess I don't mind."

"You know, I think I know a person who could train both of you to use a blade, or in your case Trunks, use a blade better." Kakashi said casually, the man was lying back with his arms folded behind his head.

This spiked Trunks interest, "Oh really? Who!?" Naruto was also curious.

"She's an old friend of mine from back in my Anbu days. She's a specialist in kenjutsu and so is her boyfriend. So if the two of you want, I can convince them to give you both training sessions."

"Alright!" The boys said in unison.

The boat reached shore and the group disembarked. "This is it for me." The boatman told them. "Good-bye and Good luck."

Tazuna bid him thanks and they went on their way, "Please get me home safely." Tazuna asked.

"Yeah, Yeah," Kakashi sighed. 'Just know that if we get attacked again it will probably be by a jonin instead of chunin.'

Team 7 was once again traversing down a dirt path. The setting was actually a lot similar to what the group traveled back home.

As Naruto walked, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened when they were still in Fire country. He growled in his head, 'When we got attacked, Sasuke and Trunks managed to take care of those guys no sweat. And what was I doing? Standing around like defenseless coward. No way I'm letting that happen again. I'll show both of them!'

Thinking he heard something Naruto threw a shuriken into a nearby bush. "Heh heh, its just a squirrel." He tried to play it off.

Sakura slapped him in the back of the head, "Stop trying to act cool! There's nothing there!"

Kakashi stared at him dully, "Please stop using shuriken Naruto, It's dangerous."

"Hey shortie, stop being an idiot!" Tazuna groaned.

Naruto then looked around franticly, "I think I see a shadow." He threw a kunai towards a bush, causing him to get hit in the head harder by Sakura.

"I said stop it baka!"

The blonde clutched his head, "We're being followed I swear!" Naruto cried with comical tears coming out of his eyes.

As Sakura scolded Naruto; Kakashi, Sasuke, and Trunks actually heard the puncture sound of the kunai hit something. The three approached the bush, and Kakashi spread it apart, revealing a snow white bunny with blood staining its fur. The kunai pierced its stomach.

"Hmm." Kakashi said out loud, getting Sakura's attention.

Sakura gasped, "Naruto you idiot, what have you done!?" She made the blonde look at the dead rodent.

Naruto panicked and ran up to revive the dead rodent, a futile effort. "Noooo, I'm so sorry little buddy. I didn't mean it, please forgive me!" He sobbed and cradled the bunnies corpse, making Trunks and Sasuke sweatdrop.

Meanwhile Kakashi was thinking to himself, 'That's a snow rabbit yet it's spring, what's with it's color? The snow rabbit changes color based on its environmental conditions. White is it's color during the winter. Meaning this rabbit has been kept in captivity, this is a trap!"

Seeing something move from a nearby tree Kakashi reacted, "Everyone duck!"

A giant sword swung past them and stuck itself in a tree. A man jumped down and landed on top of the hilt, staring at Kakashi. His lower face was covered in a mask of bandages, he had a mist headband on his head tilted to the side, making his black hair stick out in a fashion similar to Kakashi's. He also wore striped brown pants with camo gauntlets and boots that covered the unhealthily gray skin on his arms and legs. His torso was left open.

"Well, if it isn't the hidden mist's missing nin, Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi smirked under his mask.

Naruto's hands started going through signs while Trunks began to build up Ki in his hands, only for both boys to be stopped when Kakashi put a hand in front of them.

"Everyone stay back, he's on a whole other level." Kakashi warned. "He's an S-class missing nin of Kirigakure, one of the seven ninja swordsman of the mist." Kakashi put his hand over his head band prepared to raise it and uncover his left eye.

The bandages on Zabuza's face stretched, an obvious sign of a wide grin, "So you're Sharingan Kakashi. Sorry but the old man's mine."

'Sharingan, what's that?' Naruto wondered.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide in realization. 'Impossible!'

Trunks still stood in a fighting stance, "Are you sure about this sensei? I'm sure I'm capable of handling him."

Kakashi nodded, "Maybe you could, but I still don't know what your limitations are. It'll be a lot better if you just guard Tazuna with the others." Trunks nodded and went to surround Tazuna with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. The scarecrow faced the Demon of the Mist, "Well Zabuza," Kakashi raised the headband to uncover his left eye. The flesh had a long scar running straight down it, but what everyone saw in the eye caught them by surprise. The iris was red with three black swirls around it. "Fight me."

"I'm honored, I get to see the infamous sharingan. You do realize not letting the kid over there fight will only delay the inevitable." Zabuza said cockily.

"It won't make a huge difference. Believe it or not, that kid is a Ki user, and he's least as strong as me." Kakashi said smugly.

"Bullshit. It's impossible for anyone to use Ki anymore. Either way, there's a reason that it was abandoned for chakra." Zabuza said in reply.

Kakashi shrugged, "Maybe, but after seeing just what it's capable of, I don't think I would mind being able to use it." He narrowed his eyes, "I doubt you'd even stand a chance against my sharingan."

"Sharingan, Sharingan, what the heck is it?" Naruto demanded. Trunks was curious too. Surprisingly Sasuke was the one to answer.

"It is said that some have the ability in their eyes to read and defeat all types of Tai, Gen, and Nin-jutsu. The sharingan is one of the types of dojutsu that will give you this power. But that's not the only ability it has." Sasuke answered.

"What?" Naruto asked confused.

"Heh heh, you got it kid, but that's not all." Zabuza said smugly, "What's even scarier is that you can copy an opponent's techniques once you see them."

'I wonder if solar flare would be a good counter for it?' Trunks thought to himself after hearing this.

"When I was a member of the Hidden Mist Assassin team I kept a handbook that included information on you and this is what it said, _The man who has copied over one thousand jutsu, Copy Ninja Kakashi_ "

"Incredible." Trunks mumbled to himself. The other's thoughts weren't too far off.

'How could this be,' Sasuke thought, "The sharingan is a special physical ability that only appears in a select few members of the Uchiha clan. There's no way he could- or, could he?..."

"Enough talk, I have to kill the old man." Zabuza eyed Kakashi as killing intent filled the air, "But it seems I have to kill you first?" He pulled his giant sword out of the tree and jumped into a nearby lake. Only, he stood right on top of it.

'He can he stand on water?' An alarmed Trunks thought. Sure he could fly, but even he couldn't just walk on water. He quickly turned his attention back to Zabuza.

Sasuke noted to himself, 'He's releasing a lot of chakra.' A thick mist began to envelop the area.

"Ninpou Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza disappeared in the mist.

"He's gone!" Tazuna exclaimed.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "He'll come after me first, he's an expert in silent killing, you won't know he's there till you're already dead. I can't use the Sharingan perfectly, so you guys be careful."

Everyone's eyes except Trunks got wide with fear. The saiyan just drew his sword and kept it at the ready, a tight grip with both hands on the handle.

"The mist is getting thicker!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Which one should I go after." Zabuza's gravelly voice echoed through the mist, "There's eight for me to choose from; kidney, heart, jugular vein, throat, liver, lungs, spine, and brain."

Zabuza's boasting allowed Trunks to listen in long enough to sense for the missing-nin's general direction. He fired a ki blast at a point that he thought would hit his intended target. The sound of a tree cracking and crashing to the ground was all he got.

"Ooh, I guess Kakashi wasn't lying. To be honest you almost hit me." He heard the assassin through the mist. "I think I might just kill you first."

"Damn!" Trunks exclaimed.

Kakashi prepared a hand sign.

Sasuke's eyes widened in fear, 'Such killing intent, it feels like I'll be killed in an instant if I made the wrong move. I feel like I'm going insane. Maybe...maybe I should let him kill me and get it over with...' Sasuke shook himself out of his nonsensical train of thought.

While everyone else was scared, Trunks wasn't. He was more than confident that he could take this man in a fight. Or, maybe that was his saiyan arrogance that his mom said he inherited from his father. It wouldn't matter, if this man turned out to be a problem then the saiyan still had his super saiyan form to fall back on. It would be pretty cool if he found a reason to use it outside of just flashing it for show. Even that he still hadn't had the opportunity to do since he got here.

"Don't worry I'll protect you guys even if it kills me." Kakashi said assuringly. He then smiled though the only way you could tell was by his eyes. "I don't allow my teammates die. That is a promise." Trunks could tell that Kakashi picked up on the other's discomfort.

"We'll see about that." Zabuza appeared between the group of genin and Tazuna. "It's over!" He started to swing only for his sword to be intercepted and stopped cold by Trunks own.

"Sorry Kakashi, but I couldn't help myself." Trunks smirked.

Kakashi also grinned, "Forget what I said, finish him."

Trunks held up his free hand and fired a ki blast into Zabuza's stomach. His eyes widened at the body that burst into a spray of water.

"Impressive, a kid being able to destroy one of my water clones." A voice said behind him. Zabuza swung his sword at an angle that would slice Trunks in half from the waist.

With lightning fast reflexes he managed to turn around and stop the blade again with his much smaller one. Sparks flew from the force of the colliding swords.

Zabuza's eyes widened in disbelief at the teen kid who managed to hold off his Kubikiribōchō with such a small blade. The fact that the lavender haired boy's arms were barely moving from what _should_ be Zabuza's superior strength also alarmed the man.

Kakashi smirked from under his mask and drew a kunai. Now was as good a time as any to attack Zabuza. The scarecrow snapped behind him to plunge the kunai into Zabuza's throat, having felt a presence appear right behind him. Water sprayed from Zabuza's neck before the body burst into a spray of water. "Another clone?" Kakashi said more than asked in an irritated voice.

Trunks quickly looked back and forth between Kakashi and Zabuza before jumping up and slamming both feet into Zabuza's chest, performing a fluid drop-kick, sending the man back far and hard enough to burst his body into water.

Trunks scoffed as he stood up straight, "Clones and substitutions, it's all getting _really_ annoying."

Kakashi actually smirked, "To be honest, I actually agree with you Trunks."

Naruto kept glancing around him, full of anxiety. And a hint of fear. Was this really what it's like to be in an actual shinobi battle? The blonde knew he had no place in this fight, and honestly, he never felt so vulnerable.

"Kakashi look out!" Sakura's scream prompted Kakashi to look behind him to see Zabuza's blade closing in on him. The jonin made a prayer that he could finish his last handsign before he was cut in two.

Apparently the gods were on his side seeing as Kakashi's body burst in a spray of water, showering Zabuza. The Demon of the mist looked out at the lake to see something rise to its surface.

Kakashi burst out of the surface of the lake with a gasp, coughing in an attempt to clear his lungs. By a hair he managed to make a successful getaway, but instantly realized that something wasn't right here. The water was dense, as if it was a solid and not liquid.

'Not good!' Kakashi thought desperately as a shadow fell over him. He turned and saw Zabuza looming over him, hands flying through seals to use a jutsu. His bandages stretched as a psychotic grin lit up his features. This time, the grin was large enough to cause a gap in the wrappings and allowed Kakashi a glimpse of his mouth, complete with teeth filed to points.

'Damn! He caught me in Water Prison Jutsu!' Kakashi's mind went blank as he was enveloped in a bubble of chakra-enhanced water. This was definitely not good. How was he going to protect his squad and Tazuna in this condition? The only positive was that Zabuza needed to stay in contact with the prison for it to stay active. Then the Hatake caught sight of a mound of water rise up to man height and began to take on a shape.

It was another clone.

Trunks looked back and forth between Kakashi and the clone that Zabuza formed. The real Zabuza glared at Kakashi with his insane grin stretching his bandages before setting his eyes on the genin and Tazuna.

"EVERYONE RUN!" Kakashi shouted, voice hollow from within the water sphere, effectively shocking the genin at the uncharacteristic display of alarm, "I was finished the moment he trapped me, take Tazuna and finish the mission!"

At this Naruto shouted back, "Like hell we're leaving you here! You said that those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, and I agree with that! We'll find a way to take this guy out and bring you with us!" Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement.

Kakashi cursed. Why did his team have to be so hardheaded? The only person he felt he could put his faith in was Trunks, and that was _only_ because of the amount of power he held. As far as the Jonin knew, that boy only had the mentality of a genin.

Naruto's hands started to shift through handsigns before he was stopped by Trunks, who raised an arm in front of him, "Trunks, what are you-"

"Let me handle this Naruto. I know I'm capable of taking this guy out." The saiyan kept his eyes trained at the Demon, leveling his sword at Zabuza.

Zabuza let out a gravelly snicker, "Do you really think that toothpick can handle this beast?" He leveled his broadsword at the saiyan out in front of him.

With tear filled eyes Sakura couldn't stop glancing back and forth between Trunks and Zabuza, there's no way Trunks could handle this creep. Kakashi couldn't even beat him. "TRUNKS!" She shouted, getting the saiyans attention, "Please don't do this! You can't possibly beat him, just give u-"

"Shut up Sakura." Sasuke said, silencing the pinkette. The action surprised Naruto and Trunks, seeing as Sasuke was so withdrawn and uninterested in anything his teammates were doing. In all honesty, the Uchiha was scared. He knew he himself couldn't stand a chance against Zabuza, and, as much as his pride killed him to admit it, Trunks was more capable of beating the missing nin. Still, the Uchiha had to defeat Trunks. He was his stepping stone to reaching Itachi. "Trunks," The saiyan turned to the Uchiha. "Don't die." With a smirk Trunks nodded and faced Zabuza.

The two swordsman locked gazes, one not taking their eyes off the other. In their perspective the battlefield was silent, the only sound coming from the flowing water of the lake.

One second went by.

Then two.

With a battlecry the two charged at each other, sprinting with their swords drawn before they clashed in a spark filled dance of sword slashes. Although Trunks was shorter than Zabuza, and had the smaller sword, it would have only made sense that he would be faster and ultimately maneuver better. But, Zabuza was capable of handling the Kubikiribōchō as if it was made of cardboard, and considering he was the more experienced of the two, it resulted in a stalemate.

The two's blades crashed and locked together, one not being able to push the other back. Not wanting to end up like his clone, Zabuza shifted his weight and kicked Trunks in the stomach, allowing the older man to leap back and gain both distance and composure.

Trunks immediately had to draw up his guard as Zabuza charged in with a sword strike that would cut the saiyan in half. Trunks jumped up high over the blade and landed a kick to Zabuza's face, knocking his head back and making him stumble.

The prince of saiyans made sure to toss a Ki blast Zabuza's way, the latter of who saw it coming and swung his sword down at it. Not wanting to take a risk on having the ball of energy destroy his sword, Zabuza poured his chakra into the Kubikiribōchō, which allowed it to split the ball in half and blow up harmlessly to either side of him.

Trunks was a bit out of breath, a small gash trailed his left cheek after getting caught with the tip of Zabuza's blade. Though otherwise, he was good to go.

Zabuza, had a few small nicks littering his chest and arms from getting caught with Trunks sword. "You know kid, only a swordsman with no honor uses powers during a fight." Zabuza scoffed.

Trunks smirked, "Only an _idiot_ swordsman doesn't use powers in a fight when he has them."

Zabuza grinned and chuckled, "I like your style kid."

The missing-nin's hands went through various seals, lucky for him, Trunks's arrogant saiyan side got the better of him, letting him stand by to let Zabuza finish. 'Little fool.' Zabuza grinned as he finished the last sign,

" **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"** Kakashi's eye widened as he heard a roar resound from the lake. He turned to see two columns of water shoot up in the air, the girths expanding and coiling, until it towered over the saiyan, the top's taking the shape of a dragon's head, yellow eyes beaming down on the saiyan.

"Wh-what is that!?" Naruto's eye's widened as Sasuke and Sakura's did. Trunks smirked up at the water dragons that roared and shot down at the saiyan below them.

"TRUNKS LOOK OUT!" Sakura screamed at the saiyan who stood headstrong.

Time seemed to slow down for the saiyan who held out his right arm at the dragons, hand forward at a ninety-degree angle. A blue sphere of ki, about the size of a volleyball charged up in the saiyans palm, shining like a star in front of the spectators,

" **BURNING STORM!"** A barrage of blue energy spheres fired from the saiyan's hand that slammed into the dragons that were just touching down on their target. Each sphere made water in the dragon's structure splatter apart and instantly evaporate, destroying Zabuza's Jutsu.

Tazuna stared wide eyed at the display, seeing Trunks effortlessly reduce two dragons into a wave of steam and rain droplets. "Th-That kid's something!" Team 7 couldn't disagree.

Zabuza looked both furious and astonished, a strange mix of emotions, "H-How did you just-?" He was cut off as Trunks arms flew in different directions in a blur that was utterly impossible for him to follow.

" **BURNING ATTACK!"** The teen shouted as a ball of yellow Ki shot from his hands and at Zabuza, who managed to side-step at the last second and dodged it. "You should work on your aim, kid." Zabuza scoffed.

"Wasn't aiming for you." Trunks leered.

With wide eyes Zabuza turned around to see the blast smash right into his clone and explode, instantly turning the bunshin into steam. This resulted in Kakashi being freed from his prison.

"You...You little shit!" Zabuza barked in rage at the still smirking saiyan in front of him. He charged in with his broadsword in an attempt to bisect Trunks. The blade came down wide and heavy, in a way that would splatter any normal person.

"TRUNKS MOVE!" Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna shouted.

Trunks smirked and held up his right hand, stopping the blade on its edge, dead in its tracks.

Every spectator's eyes widened, none more than Zabuza's, "H-How? This makes no sense!" This kid, just stopped his Kubikiribōchō with his bare hand, on it's blade edge. How did his hand not get sliced through? How did the sword not slice through every layer of flesh, muscle, and bone in the boys body and proceed into the ground? It couldn't be possible.

This boy couldn't be human.

Zabuza watched as Trunks' free hand rose up and palm raise to his torso. "Bye." The saiyan said simply before a beam of yellow ki shot out into the side of Zabuza's stomach area and out through the back. The force sent Zabuza slamming into a tree, smearing blood down the bark. Blood poured from his open wound, one that was large enough for one to look through and see what was on the other side. Zabuza coughed and hacked up blood, which quickly soaked into his bandages, turning the white gauzes a deep crimson. Through blurry eyes Zabuza could make out the saiyan standing directly in front of him, hand out reached in preparation of another blast.

For once in his life, Zabuza felt fear.

As the missing-nin stared into the yellow ball of energy emanating from the boys hands, he stuttered "W-Wait kid, y-you don't have to-" He was silenced by a trio of senben launching into the side of his neck, instantly sending him into darkness.

"What?" Trunks questioned, canceling the blast. He could see Zabuza's eyes go lifeless as the senben pierced him. The others were just approaching from behind, also wondering just what happened.

Naruto stared at Zabuza's body, "Is he-"

"Dead? Yes." A new feminine voice cut in. Everyone looked up to see a hunter-nin dressed out in light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as his kimono. The nin had long dark hair gathered in a white bun holder, with two locks of hair falling loose to frame his face. The nin hopped down from the branch they were perched upon and landed next to Zabuza, "I'll take it from here."

"And who are you?" Trunks asked.

Kakashi answered for him, "It's a hunter-nin, they're Anbu that specialize in taking down missing nin."

The nin nodded, "Precisely. I'll be taking Momochi Zabuza back to Water Country for dismantling and disposal."

Trunks rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Tsk, there'd be nothing left of him if you just let me take care of it."

"And _that_ would be an issue. We need proof of a nins death for confirmation. But I must be going now, thank you." The nin made a hand-seal before they disappeared.

After the two left, Naruto turned to Trunks, "Dude that was awesome! You completely manhandled a Jonin! Heh, you might be able to take Kakashi in a fight." Naruto smirked at the last sentence, he looked to his sensei, expecting a reaction out of him.

What he saw, was Kakashi wobble and tip over. Trunks caught the man and was assisted by Naruto, the two boys providing kakashi a shoulder for support.

"What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi was letting out deep pants, "It seems...like an idiot I...left my sharingan...exposed for too long. I just need...some rest is all."

Tazuna smiled and tipped his hat, "Well you all can get plenty of that when you come to my house!" He said joyfully. "Let's go."

They all continued their journey.

A/N: Okay so abrupt ending, but I had to end this chapter and get it out to you guys while I had some free time on my hands, otherwise you guys would have to wait a few more weeks. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, LEAVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS IN A REVIEW!


	7. Training

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto. Only the situations the characters find themselves in.

XXXX

Team 7 finally made their trek into Tazuna's village, a rundown, poor little town, as the old man described it. Despite the indigent setting, the carpenters attitude changed since the beginning of the journey, no longer was he this grumpy, coarse, and rude old guy, but a happy, jovial, and cheerful one. He waved and greeted everyone and even walked with a spring to his step. The teen's and Kakashi could actually see the bridge out in the distance, made visible through the setting sunlight and dissipated mist.

Eventually, the group made their way to a rundown shack that sat on a pier in front of a body of water. With a bright smile Tazuna outstretched his arms as he opened the door, "Ah, home sweet home!" He walked through the door to be greeted by a pretty young woman in her possibly late twenties, the two sharing a tight hug.

The woman and Tazuna turned to see Team 7 standing by the doorway, Kakashi being supported by Trunks and Naruto's shoulders.

Tazuna cleared his voice, "May I introduce you to my daughter Tsunami?"

The woman bowed, "Thank you for protecting my father. I'm sorry we had to lie about the mission statement."

"Don't...worry about it." Kakashi sounded as if he would pass out at any minute, prompting Tsunami to give him a questionable look.

"They've been through a lot to get me here." Tazuna told his daughter, "Lay out some beds and get dinner ready, they deserve it."

XXXX

Elsewhere in the Wave Country, rugged screams resounded from a cone-shaped hut, held up between some trees by thick ropes, and had narrow prison-like windows cut into the outside. The pained screams and shouts were enough to drive away any animals within several yards of the hovel.

This, was Zabuza Momochi's base.

The assassin managed to calm down enough while his subordinate operated on him the best she could with the supplies she was given. Pain was something that Zabuza could tolerate, and he could shrug off most wounds like kunai stabs, and blunt trauma to most organs, but the severity of _this_ wound made this kind of pain hurt like _hell._

The masked teenager operating on him worked frantically, spending so much time trying to clean their masters wound. The risk of infection was high, and sealing up the hole in his torso was a toilsome effort.

After about three hours of labor, Zabuza having long passed out from the pain, the teen removed their mask to reveal a flawless, feminine, and beautiful face. Her dark-brown eyes scanned over the bloodied medical tools laid out on the table in front of the bed her master rested in, before she gathered them up in a bag to be disposed of.

As she moved towards the front door she heard a gravelly "H-Haku." Cough out from behind her. She turned to see her master's pained face, mouth uncovered and revealing rows of sharp teeth that were grit in an expression of a silent hiss. "H-How...is...it?" He obviously referred to his injury.

Haku's eyes trailed down her masters stomach, that was wrapped up completely with bandages. A small stain of blood on the lower right edge was the biggest hint of where the injury resided. "It's...better, to put it lightly." She said as she stood back next to her master's bed. Zabuza seemed as if he was struggling to sit up, only for his body to deny it, "It would be unwise to move _at all_ in your condition. It's by Kami's grace that I managed to keep you alive."

The man stopped struggling, but that didn't stop him from letting his right hand come up over the point on his bandages where his wound was. With his index and middle fingers he let them come down ever so slowly, just to give it the lightest prod- "AAAAUUGGGHHH!" The demon of the mist roared.

"Still tender." The girl said, face still blank. Zabuza glared at her in response. She continued, "It appears that at best-case scenario, you have an ugly scar on your waist, worst case, you have to live with a hole in your torso. I tried to seal up the wound as best I could using synthetic tissue, but that doesn't mean your body won't try to heal over it, which it should. You also got lucky in the fact that the boy didn't issue a larger attack, because by mere _centimeters_ he missed your kidneys and large-intestine."

At that Zabuza chuckled. "Ain't that a bitch. I must be doing something right in this world if even the God's themselves spared me."

Haku nodded and smiled. Her master being happy always made her happy. (A/N: In case you guys couldn't pick up on it, Haku is a girl in my fic. Why? Because I said so.) She noticed that her Gi was splattered with blood, so she left the hut to get herself cleaned up, while also disposing of the tools.

XXX

Kakashi was lying in a bed mat on the floor, having long dozed off in a relieving rest. His Genin were gathered around his bed. Naruto, Sakura, and Trunks were chatting amongst themselves on how cool it was that Trunks thrashed Zabuza. Trunks, being the modest person that he was, tried to play it off like it was nothing, only pushing the two into trying to convince him otherwise.

Sasuke, sat away from the group in silence, their conversation eating away at him the longer it dragged on. Was he the only one bothered by how strong Trunks was? He couldn't be the only person concerned with the thought of just what the Briefs boy was truly capable of.

Where did he get that kind of power? And saying it was _just_ because of his ki was bullshit.

After suffering his embarrassing loss at the hands of the newcomer, the Uchiha spent much of his time in the Konoha libraries, doing as much research as he could on the history of Ki and trying to dig up the name 'Briefs' anywhere in the records.

The latter, proved impossible.

What he managed to dig up on Ki, was that it was a source of energy used by monks _millenniums_ ago, with legends saying that it had the potential to wipe _countries_ off the map. Despite knowing just what sort of power that Ki possessed, the monks didn't use it. They thought that that sort of power would be too dangerous for just any warrior to know about, so they kept it within their lineage. Eventually, Chakra came into development, making it impossible for any other person to use their Ki alone, which wasn't such a bad thing seeing as Chakra was _much_ more flexible and provided _many_ more uses. About a century after the world became adjusted to Chakra, a group of Shinobi led an attack on the monks in their temple, killing them all due to the flexibility Chakra had over the simpleness of Ki.

That last part didn't make sense to the Uchiha, seeing as how Trunks could seem so powerful with a power source _inferior_ to theirs. There had to be more to it than that. A bloodline-limit perhaps? Only time will reveal all mysteries.

Kakashi suddenly snapped upright in his bed, fully awake and visible eye wide open. His Genin were effectively startled. He looked as if he was deep in thought, something bothering him down to his bones, 'Why does it feel like we missed something? Trunks surely killed Zabuza, if not then that Anbu did. I shouldn't be feeling this way if Zabuza really is dead.'

"Kakashi-sensei, are you alright? What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

'Do any of you remember just what the Hunter-nin did with Zabuza's body?" The scarecrow asked, still looking down at his bedsheets.

Naruto scratched his face in thought, "He picked up Zabuza and took him somewhere. How are we supposed to know what he did after that?"

"That's the issue." Kakashi said, head rising as things began to make sense. "Hunter-nin usually work on the body immediately after capture, in the place where the subject died in order to leave no room for error. And then, there's the weapons that the nin used. Do you remember what they were?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, "Senben-needles."

Kakashi nodded, "That's right. Senben needles don't kill a target unless they hit a vital organ, and an Anbu is capable of using them to shut down a body to simulate death."

The genin's eyes widened.

"What are you all babbling about?" Tazuna grumbled as he and Tsunami walked into the room, "Trunks demolished that assassin, blew a hole right through him."

"That's another issue." Kakashi noted, "Judging from the point on the body that Trunks blasted him, he couldn't have hit anything vital. If anything he only took out a kidney. Not to mention that the heat could have cauterized the wound instantly."

"What are you saying?" Sasuke asked, although he knew the answer, he just didn't want to hear the truth.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, "Zabuza's still alive."

"WHAT!" Sakura, Naruto, and Tazuna shouted. Tsunami gasped and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Damn it!" Trunks fist slammed into the floor, startling everyone in the room, "I should have blasted him when I had the chance. I was so stupid." He growled in anger.

Sakura's first reaction was to calm him, "I-it's not your fault Trunks, you just didn't know."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah man, how were any of us supposed to know that creep would survive that."

"It shouldn't matter if Zabuza's alive, should it? I mean if he comes back Trunks could handle that bastard right?" Tazuna asked Kakashi.

"Zabuza's a Jonin. It's no doubt that since he knows what Trunks is capable of, he'll have a different strategy." Kakashi noted that a small smirk was on Naruto's face, 'Hm, it seems Naruto is glad Zabuza is alive. I guess that means he has another shot at him.'

With a shake in her voice Sakura said, "But wait Kakashi-sensei, you said that your body would be out for at least a week. What are we supposed to do if you can't help us? We don't know what Zabuza will do next."

Kakashi chuckled, making her raise an eyebrow, "I may be down, but that doesn't mean I can't train you." Naruto's eyes brightened.

"It doesn't matter how much you train, nothing you do will ever make a difference." A new voice cut in. Everyone turned to the doorway to see a young boy around the age of 8 or 9, standing with a look of disdain on his face, he wore green overalls with a yellow shirt and a pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat with a long brim.

"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto snapped. How dare this kid mock his team.

"Inari!" Tazuna held out his arms joyfully for his grandson to run into.

"Welcome back grandpa!" Inari said as he hugged his grandfather

Tsunami placed her hands on her hips as she approached her son, "That was very rude Inari!" She scolded her son.

Inari passed a glare at Team 7, "Mom don't you see that these people are gonna die?! Gato and his men will find them and kill them!"

"Inari!"

Naruto growled and stood up, "What did you say brat?! Listen up, you ever heard of a hero? Well that's what we are, this Gato or Blato, or whatever doesn't stand a chance against us! Believe it!"

Inari scoffed, "There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas!"

"Why you little-!" Naruto was about to charge at Inari before he was restrained by Trunks.

"If you wanna stay alive then you'll go back where you came from." Inari turned his back on everyone and walked to the door.

"Inari," Tazuna called out, "Where ya going?"

The boy opened the door, not turning around as he spoke, "I'm going to my room. I want to be alone." He left.

XXX

Naruto was storming up the stairs, followed by Trunks, "Who does that twerp think he is? I'm gonna put him in his place right now."

"Naruto you're overreacting. He's just a kid, calm down." Trunks tried to reason with the blonde.

Naruto shook his head, "No way, I'm not letting that brat get away with-" The two were interrupted by the sound of sobs and sniffles coming from down the hallway.

Sharing a glance, the two made a silent agreement to investigate. With light footsteps, the two made their way down the hall to a slightly cracked open door. Peeking inside, they saw Inari by his ocean-view window, sobbing over something while saying, "Daddy."

Feeling rather dispirited, the two made another silent agreement to leave.

XXX

The next morning, the four Genin found themselves standing in a forest in front of their sensei. Kakashi, still not being able to stand on his own, supported himself with a set of wooden crutches.

"We're here now, Kakashi, so what do you want?" Sasuke rudely asked his sensei.

"We're gonna do a little training exercise today, Sasuke." Kakashi replied, seemingly ignoring the Uchiha's rudeness.

"So what's this training we're gonna be doing, Sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi's eye curled up in a smile.

"Well, I thought we'd do something fun today." Hatake threw a hand out behind him to the trees, "We're going to do a little tree climbing." The Genin's expressions were a bit... _underwhelming_ , to say the least.

"Could…you repeat that?" Sakura deadpanned, unsure if she'd heard Kakashi-sensei right. Did he seriously want them to climb trees?

"How is tree climbing training?" Naruto asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone there.

"Oh!" Kakashi sounded as if he'd remembered just why it was training, as if they believed that, "Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention, no hands allowed."

"Uh…No hands?" Naruto asked with a squint face. "Then how the hell are we supposed to climb the tree?" The other two nodded with his assessment.

"You use chakra. Shinobi generally regard the feet as the hardest place to channel chakra, even more so since the feet are usually covered by sandals. Thus it is that much harder because you have to force chakra through the rubber. Of course, it varies from person to person, but I guarantee that all three of you will fall at least once." The masked jounin turned to the tree behind him and proceeded to walk straight at it. When he got to it, Kakashi just kept walking, straight up at a 90-degree angle. He finally reached the lowest branch, which hang high over their heads.

The four teens gaped at the ease at which their leader had done it.

"Trust me," he called down to them, "this isn't as easy as I make it look. On the plus side though, when you're done with this and get all the way to the top, your chakra control will be much better and you'll be that much stronger!" Then he dropped three kunai down to the shinobi members of the group and they got to work.

"Kakashi-sensei, what about me?" Trunks asked as the jounin dropped from his perch above and landed gracefully beside the Z fighter.

Kakashi took a moment to dust off his pants, "Hmmm, well I guess it wouldn't be fair for everyone else to get special training, so you come with me." He nodded his head for Trunks to follow him, which the demi-saiyan did.

The two were in a section of forest that was a good distance away from the three doing the tree exercise.

Kakashi stood out in front of Trunks, "Now, I think it's undeniable that your powerful. _Extremely_ powerful. But," The saiyan prepared himself for what the man was about to say. "you lack tactics." Kakashi finished, prompting Trunks to raise a questionable eyebrow. Kakashi continued, "That was something I tried explaining to you during the bell exercise." Kakashi raised his hand to silence Trunks, who was just beginning to open his mouth, "Although you do have the mentality of killing your opponents to end a problem permanently, almost all shinobi have that mentality. What sets you apart is that during combat you don't fight with any particular plan in mind. Your much like Naruto in that you go into a fight hoping to dish out a no-holds-barred beatdown on your opponents."

Trunks couldn't deny that. That was all his master Gohan taught him. He always did say that the only 'tactical' Z-fighter was Piccolo, and even he hadn't found the time to teach his master any of those thinking skills. Or so Gohan told him.

"Get the picture?" Kakashi asked. The Jonin decided to further explain his point, "You see, the winner of a battle isn't always determined by how strong the opponent is, but by who is the better strategist. In some cases, the weakest Genin could be promoted to Chunin or even Jonin based on his battle intellect alone."

Trunks nodded, "I get it. But what do you want me to do?"

"Since I'm not in the best of conditions, I can't really train you as seriously as I want to. But, to get you adjusted, we'll be doing a simple hide and go seek game."

"Hide and go seek?" Trunks asked, getting more confused. How would hide and go seek help him out in any way?

"You heard me. Hide and go seek against me will help you learn how to hunt down an opponent that you can't see or sense. Like I said before, I'm not in the best of conditions so consider this, me going easy on you." The man disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving Trunks alone.

The saiyan sighed, not too thrilled about this method of training. "Oh well." He told himself. He wasn't getting anywhere by burning daylight. He began to roam the forest in search of his sensei.

XXX

Zabuza lied resting in his bed, sound asleep with his tool sitting in a seat right next to him, not willing to leave the Demon's side for a second. Haku was now dressed in a pink Kimono, a black choker around her neck. She let her hair out of it's earlier bun to let it flow down her back, a set of bangs framing her face. She too appeared to be asleep, only, that wasn't the case. A pin could drop half a mile away from her and she would be aware of it.

Her brown eyes snapped open to the sound of the wooden shack doors opening. Zabuza's too. Even in his injured state, he still pulled a kunai to kill anyone that drew near.

"Hehehe," the new arrival's voice chuckled, making abuza want to spring out of bed and snap the bastards neck. Gatou was a short man, suited in a pinstripe suit, a walking stick, small tinted glasses, and hired guns. "To think that the 'great demon' Zabuza, could get his ass handed to him by a god-damn _kid_!"

"How'd you know about that?" Zabuza growled, he knew that Haku would've mentioned he was injured, but she wouldn't say by who.

The businessman laughed, waving his cane, "I got eyes in all the right places."

"There wasn't anyone else at that lake." The disabled shinobi ground out. "If there was, I would know."

Now Gato laughed outright. "Whoever said that my eyes were living? Ever heard of cameras? No, of course you haven't. You damn shinobi don't really give a crap about technology do you? Always using those weird jutsu of yours to get the job done," the magnate made gestures with his hands. "When will you learn that the ultimate weapon is _money_!? Look, thanks to _money_ , I can afford people like you! _And_ I can bribe fools into doing what I want! No blackmail or black _magic_ needed! Face it. You're outdated!"

Haku stood up, back still to Gato, "You've said enough. Leave, _now._ " Haku's voice was laced with venom. Any normal person would back the hell up, but Gato felt confident with his samurai by his side.

"Heh, how you gonna make me?" Gato sneered, he began walking up to Zabuza, foolishly outreaching his hand to the injured man.

What he didn't expect was his forearm to be snatched up in a bone crushing grip. " _You will not lay a hand on him!"_ Haku hissed as Gato screamed in pain.

"G-Get this bitch off me before she breaks my arm!" Gato called to his samurai who rushed in with their swords.

Faster than the two could blink, their own blades were pressed up against their necks with the handles aimed to the floor.

'H-How did she-'

'I didn't even see her move!'

Gato stumbled away from the woman who had his men in a position where she could behead them both in an instant. "Do _not_ test me I'm in a _very_ foul mood." Haku said, debating with herself if she should just murder the three maggots right now.

"Let'em go Haku." Zabuza said, prompting the teenager to release the men, who scrambled back over to their boss.

Gato put on a bold facade, a not-very-successful one at that, before saying, "Y-You just remember who you're working for! You still need me to cover for you, and I swear if you screw up again I'm cutting you off for good!" The man salvaged as much pride as he could before walking out of the hut, rubbing his sore arm as he left. The two samurai passed a nervous glance to Haku before leaving out as well.

Zabuza watched as his weapon slammed the door shut behind them. Her killing intent still lingered in the air.

"You didn't have to do that Haku." the assassin told his weapon. He lifted the covers on his bed to reveal the kunai that he could have killed Gato with in an instant. The removal of the covers revealed the aftermath of the fight with Trunks. Luckily the wound was already patched up, meaning there was no need to change the bandages for bleeding.

"Zabuza-san, what are you going to do about the one who did that to you?"

Zabuza looked thoughtful for a minute, then he looked at Haku and told him, "I'm going to let you handle him."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You wouldn't be able to take him in a straight up fight, but with that Kekkei Genkai of your's, the bastard won't stand a chance."

Haku nodded, his master believed in him. He would kill Trunks Briefs one way or another.

XXXX

The sun was beginning to set over the forest and Trunks still couldn't find Kakashi. The son of Vegeta could have sworn he combed every square inch of this forest within a mile circumference, with 0 luck. Every rock, every tree, every bush he could have sworn he looked behind. The fact that the sun was setting would only mean that this assignment would get infinitely harder.

Kakashi watched the demi-saiyan from his hiding spot. He'd been at this game for over six hours, in the same spot, listening to Naruto's curses and wails echo from every time he fell off the tree. The Jonin actually had enough time to _go back_ to where Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were to check-up on them, commend Sakura on being the only one to complete the exercise, and _come back_ to his exact hiding spot.

The jonin sighed, he didn't want to be out there all night.

"Trunks." The saiyan heard Kakashi's voice. He looked all around to see where it was coming from, but it appeared as if it was coming from all directions. "A shinobi must be able to notice _any_ sort of changes in their surroundings. Whether it's a broken twig, a moved pebble, a scrape in the dirt, to even the air around them."

"Thanks for the tip." Trunks deadpanned. He looked at the skies and saw that the sun completely set, turning the forest around him a haunting black with the only sunlight coming from the moon and stars. "But honestly I don't think it's possible for me to take your advice right now. Ki doesn't give you x-ray vision."

"Yeah, you're right. Looks like we'll just have to try this again another day." At the last line Trunks heard the lazy Jonin's voice right behind him, effectively startling the saiyan. In all honesty, he almost blasted him.

Once getting his bearing together Trunks gave an apologetic bow, "Sorry I couldn't pass the test Kakashi." kakashi gave him a clap on the back and an eye smile.

"Don't worry about it. If there's one positive I can give you is that you didn't give up. You kept looking for a whole _six_ hours. That shows discipline. But anyways, let's get to Tazuna's. We might just beat Sasuke and Naruto there."

XXX

Sasuke and Naruto finally dragged themselves back to Tazuna's house. The two boys were training since the start of the assignment and they spent _literally_ the entire day trying to complete it. The fact that Sakura managed to complete it on her first try only pushed their motivation levels to the max.

The door to the house opened to the two boys, using each others shoulders for support.

"And then when you collect all seven of them, it summons a dragon that'll grant you any wish!" Trunks was happily stuffing his face while telling the household the legend of the seven mystical Dragonballs. Even though everyone listened, it all sounded like a load of bull. Summoning a dragon that grants wishes? And it just so happens that Trunks never got to see it for himself? Despite how farfetched the story was, it provided great entertainment at the dinner table.

Trunks trailed off when he saw Naruto and Sasuke. The two boys looked like crap to say the least.

"Wow. What happened to you two?" Tazuna asked, noticing the boys as well, "You both look like you got run over by a steamroller."

"Guess they were _training_ all day." A voice mumbled. All heads turned to Inari, who hadn't said a word at the dinner table. "Why are you guys even still around? Why are you even trying to stand against Gato."

"Because it's what we were contracted to do," Sakura answered, not getting why the boy was so nasty to them.

"Then you're all a bunch of idiots!" He shouted.

"Inari!" Tsunami gasped in shock.

"You're all gonna die like everyone else!" He got up from the table and stormed off, slamming the kitchen door behind him.

Tazuna sighed, "Sorry about that. He's been that way ever since his father died a while back."

"His father?" Kakashi asked simply.

Tazuna nodded, "Yes, but not his biological one. The man Inari called father was a man, a _great_ man, named Kaiza who came to us from, well, out of nowhere. His real father died a year or two before, but not before he and Tsunami had Inari."

"Inari never really did get what it meant to die," Tsunami added. "Then my husband showed up and Inari found someone he could rely on and talk to." She smiled wistfully. "After seeing how those two got along, it was only natural that I marry Kaiza and let Inari have a father again."

"Those were happy times," Tazuna continued with a nostalgic smile. "Inari idolized his father like every little boy does."

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.

Tazuna scowled. "Gato happened. That man moved in and practically enslaved us. Before long, all of us were in his pocket. Kaiza was one of the few who openly opposed him. In payback for that defiance, Gato had Kaiza executed. That stole Inari's light and he's been like this ever since."

"That's so sad," Sakura said sullenly. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose your father at such a young age.

'...' Trunks head was lowered, his face shadowed by his lavender hair.

"Tsk. If you ask me he's just a spoiled little brat," Naruto spat, head resting on his hand on the table.

"Naruto! How can you say that?" Sakura asked scandalized.

"Yeah,!" Inari yelled, opening the door again. "What would _you_ know about losing someone!?" In a heartbeat, Naruto had picked Inari up by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall, holding him there with one arm.

"Naruto!" Kakashi snapped. "Put him down now." He was promptly ignored. Trunks considered stopping it, but decided not to. That kid probably needed to hear this.

"You think I don't know?" Naruto growled, his voice low and dangerous, his anger reddened face inches from Inari's pale terrified one. "Get over yourself. You think it's cool to sit around and cry all day!? Maybe instead of moping around all day you should get off your ass and _do something_ about it!"

"You don't know what it's like!" Inari repeated. Naruto pushed him harder into the wall. One could hear the crackling and snapping of wood throughout the kitchen

"Believe me, I _do_ know! _You_ have a family! _I'm_ hated by everyone in my village!" The blond shouted. He dropped Inari, letting the terrified kid drop to the ground where he curled up, terrified tears streaming down his face. "I'm going to bed." Naruto mumbled. He jerked the door open and closed it, more like _slamming_ it, which made some of the dishes rattle.

The kitchen was silent, the only sound coming from Inari's sniffles. The boy got up and left out as well

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked her Jonin.

The man took a moment, taking a long breath, "Everyone, go to bed. Now." Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Trunks just got up from his seat and silently left from the room.

The son of Vegeta made his way down the hall, following the sound of Inari's sniffles. He was led to a door that led outside to the pier that overlooked the body of water that the house sat on. Inari could be seen sitting on the edge of the planks, looking down at the swaying water below him.

"I think out of everyone in that house, I know what you're going through better than any of them." Trunks said as he took a seat next to Inari.

Inari wiped his nose clean with the back of his hand, "What makes you say that?" Inari said bitterly. As if anyone could _really_ understand.

Trunks kept his eyes trained out over the ocean, the reflection of the hundreds of stars shining in the sky giving it the presence of diamonds in the water. "Well for one thing, like you I come from a land that's terrorised by two people. Psycho's who would go on murder sprees for no good reason." He used the word people _very_ lightly. Inari shrugged him off, prompting Trunks to continue, "I also never really knew my father. He was murdered when I was a baby. By the same people that brought my home to ruin." This got Inari's attention, making the young boys eyes widen in curiosity, "When I met someone who I could call my best friend, no not even, someone I could call a _father,_ who trained me, we would stand against those bastards whenever we got the chance." Trunks expression became downcast. "But we lost _every_ time, and those people would die in vain."

Inari noticed that Trunks looked as if he wanted to continue, but needed to find the strength for it, "Wh-what happened next?" The boy asked.

" _They_ killed him."

Inari gasped, eyes widening in shock. Out of his peripherals Trunks could see he was really breaching the boy. "B-But, if that really happened, then why are you so"

"Happy?" Trunks finished for the boy. Inari nodded. "Well, even despite all of that. There was one thing that kept me going. One thing that I knew couldn't die and wouldn't leave me."

Inari found himself asking,"What?"

"Hope." Trunks turned to the boy.

"Hope?" Inari repeated, hoping he heard right. Trunks nodded.

"As long as you have hope, there's always a chance for things to get better. No matter how bad things seem, or how much you think the world has ended. You just have to keep fighting." Inari took a moment to let things sink in. He just learned that there were two people out there that knew exactly how he felt. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought. Maybe there was a chance for his land to be free.

Things seemed just a little brighter for Inari. And he had Naruto and Trunks to thank for that. He and the Demi-saiyan sat and stared out over the ocean.

Unknown to them, Kakashi was on the other side of the door, having listened into their whole conversation.

XXXXX

A/N: Okay so this chapter was just a bunch of filler, but it was necessary to set up for the bridge battle next chapter. Now, to the reviewers who want me to basically have Trunks one-shot every enemy, no. I will NOT do that. I plan on writing GOOD fight scenes. Let me ask you, how entertaining is,

 _Enemy hits Trunks, Trunks doesn't feel it, Trunks kills enemy in one blast._

Are you honestly gonna tell me that you want to read that? For those of you that have read Hybrid of the Hidden Leaf, tell me, has Gohan ever _really_ lost a fight? Has he? No. He hasn't. When I power down a DBZ character it's to make a fight more interesting. Not because I'm a narutard who thinks Naruto is _**'UB3R powerful and can destroy everyone!'**_ like almost everyone who reads FTDS stat sheets (Which I do not agree with **at all** by the way).

A character completely curbstomping another character **does not** make a good fight. Remember that. Read Gohan's Dilemma if you don't believe me.

DarkSun82 signing out.


	8. Battle For The Bridge

A/N: Holy cow! Over 100 reviews and I'm only 8 chapters in? I can't believe it. Thanks guys. I get the feeling this story might really go somewhere.

XXXX

One week had passed since the beginning of the Genin's training session. Trunks managed to actually find the masked Jonin of the team after the fourth day of training. It wasn't exactly _good_ progress, but it _was_ progress so it meant that he would only get better at the exercise as time went on. Naruto and Sasuke managed to get exponentially better at the tree climbing exercise, managing to make it to the top of their respective trees with fewer and fewer kunai marks in the bark. On the sixth day the two managed to successfully learn how to walk up the trees without fail.

Naruto, having grown so exhausted, was allowed to sleep in by Kakashi, feeling both merciful and impressed by the blondes hard work. The rest of the team was brought to Tazuna's bridge; both to keep watch, and take a break from training.

In all honesty though, the three might as well have been training. Tazuna decided to put Sasuke, Sakura, and especially Trunks to work on certain sections of the bridge. The elderly carpenter hadn't believed Trunks when he said that he could lift the steel beams and concrete blocks, but when he showed he could, the old man had to take advantage of it. No one seemed bothered by a person lifting multi-ton weighted materials. If they were, they didn't show it. The workers may have just been so relieved at the quickened progress that they overlooked it.

After Sakura and Sasuke struggled to move their load of (lesser weighted) concrete blocks, the pinkette glared at her sensei who was sitting atop one of the giant blocks that Trunks set up.

"You know sensei, you could get down here and help us!" Sakura fumed at the Jonin reading his Icha-Icha book.

Kakashi didn't even spare her a side glance, choosing to turn to the next page, "Eh, no thanks. You guys are doing a swell job on your own." His hand snapped up to catch a steel rod that was thrown at him. Courtesy of the pinkette. The man's nonchalant attitude only making Sakura growl.

X

Little did the people on the bridge know, they were being watched by Zabuza and Haku. The two standing atop of the crane that hung high over the construction zone. The assassin stood with a ragged scar ever present on his waist. A permanent reminder of the boy he would kill today. It was because of him that the innocent men who helped work on this bridge would die as well.

He turned to his partner, the girls face hidden behind the porcelain Anbu mask, standing as stoic as a statue, "Are you ready Haku?"

She nodded, "Yes Zabuza-san." Her eyes were trained on the working men on the ground below her.

Zabuza grinned from under his bandages, "Time to complete our mission."

X

Kakashi sat up from his spot, glancing around. Sasuke and Trunks noticed the man was bothered by something, causing the two to stop what they were doing. Sakura noticed as well, picking up on Sasuke's actions.

She grew worried, "What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?"

The man hopped down to the ground, putting his Icha-Icha book behind him, "Something...something's not right."

As if on cue a series of thuds could be heard from the open section of the bridge. Tazuna was the first to run towards it followed by Team 7. What they found...was not a pretty sight.

The corpses of about six workers lied sprawled on the ground. Their throats slashed or their necks twisted at horrible angles. Tazuna gasped and felt the urge to gag, "Wh-what happened?" Although he had a pretty good idea.

A thick mist began to envelop the area, obscuring their view just as it had a week ago. Kakashi whipped out a kunai, already knowing something bad was about to happen, "Trunks, Sakura, Sasuke, get ready!" The group circled around Tazuna, protecting the man as their mission called for.

" _Hehehe."_ A voice chuckled through the mist. " _Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi. I see you're missing a brat."_

The Hatake scoffed, "Should it matter? I still have the one that mopped the floor with you." This made Trunks smirk. He was waiting on Zabuza to poke his head out so he could blow it off.

" _Maybe."_ Zabuza started, _"But now that I know what he's capable of, things are gonna be little different."_

The mist thinned out enough for Team 7 to notice they were surrounded by seven Zabuza's. Sasuke's arms and legs began to tremble, which Zabuza picked up on, "Well what do you know. This one's still trembling."

A smirk slowly crossed Sasuke's lips, "Trembling? I'm trembling...because I'm excited!"

Kakashi turned to the ebony haired Genin, "Go for it Sasuke."

In an instant the Zabuza clones were slashed apart, bursting in a splash of water. The Uchiha was back in his exact spot, kunai gripped in both hands.

"Oooh, so he could tell they were clones. Impressive. Look's like I'll have a bit of a hard time with you." Zabuza said as he and Haku stepped forward.

Trunks pulled his sword, falling into a battle stance.

Zabuza nodded to Haku, giving her a silent confirmation. The girl stepped to the side before twirling around, picking up speed until her body became a mini-twister of death that maneuvered directly to Trunks.

The saiyan stood headstrong as Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura leapt back, bringing Tazuna with them. Trunks swung his sword just as the twister closed the distance with him, the blade coming into contact with two senbon needles that Haku used to stop and lock the sword cold. The teen found her arms being steadily forced back from the saiyans superior strength. The edge of the blade inching closer to her mask.

Haku sent a swift kick into the saiyan stomach to break free. The two rushed back into a clash of metal, Trunks sword versus Haku's twin senben, that of which she could fluidly use to block or deflect the saiyan's strikes.

'So, he's able to keep up with Haku's speed too eh.' Zabuza noted, seeing the saiyan able to clash with his partner just as protean as he could against himself that short time ago.

Kakashi smirked before turning to Sakura, "Guard Tazuna. Me and Sasuke can take Zabuza."

The pinkette nodded, "Yes sensei." She turned to the bridge builder, "Stay behind me." She whispered.

Zabuza pulled his sword, and rushed at Kakashi and Sasuke.

XXXXX

Naruto sat up in bed, a loud yawn escaping his lips. He smacked his mouth, not being able to stand the dryness that prolonged it. He removed his covers and stood up, stretching the muscles in his arms, legs, and back.

He quickly noticed something was off. He looked to the empty beds next to him and growled, "Those Teme's left me!" He hurriedly got dressed and rushed out of the room. But first, he needed to find Tsunami and ask where his team was.

XXXX

Inari stood helplessly as he watched the thugs drag his mom away. The boy's morning was going just fine until Gato's hired guns busted his family's door in and demanded his mother come with them. It was by his mother's begging that the men hadn't slain young Inari, the situation having brought the boy to a sobbing wreck on the front doorstep.

"Why? Why am I so weak." He tried to wipe his tears away. As his mom was dragged further away from him, he began to think back on what he was told a week ago.

Naruto's livid face appeared in his vision, " _Maybe instead of moping around all day you should get off your ass and do something about it_!"

Then Trunks face, " _No matter how bad things seem, you just have to keep fighting_."

Inari wiped his face, and stood back to his feet. Maybe it was time to take their advice. He shakily clenched his fists. His brow furrowed, "Hey!" He shouted, getting the samurai's attention. He was scared but he wasn't going to back down now, "Let...my...mother...go...NOW!" With a battlecry he charged at the thugs who grinned and pulled their swords.

"This kids got guts." One of them said.

"Too bad they're gonna wind up all over the ground." His partner scoffed.

Tsunami looked back and forth between the samurai and her son, rightfully fearing for Inari's life, "Inari DOOON'T!" She screamed.

The boy was closing the distance, he didn't care if he died. He wasn't gonna stand idly by while these bastards dragged his mother off to god knows where. He saw the samurai set their swords in a way that would slice him into three pieces in one swipe each. His eyes shut.

" **Fūton: Renkūdan!"**

"What the hell!"

Inari's eyes snapped open to a samurai getting assaulted by a flurry of air balls, blasting him off his feet and sending him into the body of water that the boys house sat on. The remaining thug watched with alarmed eyes as his partner was blown away.

The man could then hear a battle cry coming from behind Inari, when he turned all he could catch was a fist and the colors of orange and blue before his vision went black.

XXX

Trunks sent an elbow into Haku's stomach, knocking the girl back and prompting her to throw a trio of senben she had set between her fingers. The saiyan easily deflected the needles with his sword.

"Come on, I could've easily ended this fight a while ago." Trunks said matter-of-factly.

Deep breaths escaped Haku's lips, she was exhausted and low on energy while Trunks was as fresh as a daisy. She knew that this boy had her outclassed and could have killed her any number of times, so she was gonna need to unleash her trump card to even the odds.

As the fight drew on, Trunks failed to realize that one of Haku's objectives wasn't exactly to win, but to draw the saiyan further away from his team and the battle with Zabuza. She was going to need a bit of open space if she was gonna pull off this kekkei genkai, and seeing as the teen was arrogant enough to let Zabuza pull off an attack, she had no doubt he would do the same for her.

Her right hand shifted through a set of hand signs. Trunks' eyes narrowed as the temperature around him fell exponentially low. Hearing the sound of something shifting coming from behind him, Trunks turned to see a sheet of water rise up and quickly freeze into a mirror that hung about a foot or so off the ground. "What?" The saiyan murmured as he turned all around him, seeing slabs of ice formed mirrors surrounding him from all sides, even the top, leaving the possibility of flying out null. "Are these mirrors?" Fog emanated from the prince's mouth.

"Yes." Haku's voice came from from all around the saiyan, making Trunks swivel and pivot around out of fear of getting a kunai in his back. "This jutsu lets me reflect my image onto any mirror I choose." Just as she said, an image of Haku appeared on every mirror surrounding Trunks. "It doesn't matter how fast you are." The images held up a set of senben, "You will not escape."

XXXX

Naruto dusted his hands, grinning as he stood over the ronin that he beat to a pulp. Luckily the other one drifted to shore so he _might_ not have drowned. The Uzumaki turned around to see Inari and his mom in a tight embrace.

Inari let go of his mom the second he saw Naruto, "Y-You saved us, thank you." He felt a hand rustle his hair.

"Don't sweat it kid. Actually, I should be apologizing." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head. Inari raised a questionable brow. "Me tearing you down like that. It was kind of uncalled for. Not to mention you actually proved me wrong. You were really brave!" Naruto grinned.

The words made Inari tear up. He tried to keep himself from crying, which he said he would never do again, but the kid couldn't help himself. "Naruto...thanks." He sniffled. The blonde turned on his heel and ran for the bridge, hoping he could catch up to his team.

XXXXX

Trunks was hopping around the mirror dome in a blur, trying his best to avoid the endless flurry of senben needles that were thrown at him by Haku, the girl seeming to instantly hop between whatever mirror she so chose. The needles weren't piercing skin, falling right off, but they still stung when they connected, almost like a bee sting.

"Damn!" Trunks growled as another three needles hit his shoulder, being just a little too fast for him to dodge. Haku wasn't lying when she said that this jutsu would give her an edge over the saiyan. Even with his superhuman eyes he found it almost impossible to track the girls movements. This fight got almost 10x harder and he only had himself to blame for being cocky.

After a needle shot at him from the front, Trunks predicted the next attack to come from the back, prompting him to roll to the side and effectively dodge it. The saiyan caught a glimpse of Haku's face in a mirror and shot a ki blast at it, destroying it.

The mirror reformed instantly.

"I've never faced a fighter like you before," Haku's visage appeared in all of the mirrors, ending the barrage for the time being. "None of my senben appear to pierce you, and somehow you use a form of energy that hasn't been used in a millennia. You're also the only opponent I've faced that would allow himself to be put in this situation."

Trunks chuckled, "Yeah, well, I do admit that's become a bad habit. But what can I say, I get it from my dad." His eyes narrowed as Haku pulled more senben, "I can keep this up all day. Keep'em coming!" Trunks challenged as he went back to his earlier routine.

XXX

Kakashi and Zabuza were locked in a clash, kunai vs sword. The scarecrow showed his expertise as a shinobi by utilizing his tiny kunai to fend off Zabuza's Kubikiribocho. It was only because the Hatake's sharingan and _marginal_ help from Sasuke that the two actually held the upper hand over the assassin.

Zabuza swung his sword to attempt slicing Kakashi in half, but the silver-haired man leaned all the way back to dodge it. The Demon of the mist decided to carry the momentum of the blade all the way around to hit the Uchiha who just appeared behind the assassin.

Sasuke managed to see the attack coming and performed a back flip to just barely miss the tip of the blade. As the Uchiha landed on his feet, Kakashi managed to get a look at his face, or more directly, his eyes.

Both irises were red, the same color as his own, only, in his left eye there was one tomoe, while there were two in his right eye. 'So, Sasuke managed to awaken his Sharingan.' Kakashi thought, with a smirk forming behind his mask. He was starting to feel a little pity for Zabuza. There wasn't a way he was gonna win here.

Sasuke's hands went through his most familiar set of signs before his fingers came to his mouth " **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!** " A fireball spewed from the Uchiha's mouth and at the assassin. Zabuza stood with wide eyes as the fireball engulfed him. Kakashi managed to hop out of the way at the last second. The Hatake turned to the spot that Zabuza once was and immediately knew something was wrong, his Sharingan having caught it.

The Momochi managed to dodge the fireball just as Kakashi had. He and Sasuke turned their heads to see _two_ Zabuza's sprinting at them from inside the mist. One went for Kakashi and another, the clone, lunged at Sasuke.

The real Zabuza leapt into the air and came down on Kakashi with his sword at a speed that was too fast for the silver haired man to dodge. Being unable to block the blade with his kunai, he was left with one choice, using the steel plating on the back of his hand glove.

Kakashi grit his teeth in pain as the blade made contact. The sword managed to crack his plating and make the bones in his hands nearly _crack_. Kakashi could have swore that if Zabuza came down any harder he would have shattered every bone in his hand.

Zabuza grinned. He knew he had Kakashi in a vulnerable position, and he could tell that his student would be hard pressed to handle his clone one-on-one. He pulled a kunai with his free hand, ready to slit the throat of the Jonin.

A foot crashed into the side of Zabuza's head at about the same time a kunai hit the neck of the clone, bursting it into water. As Zabuza was knocked away Kakashi saw Naruto land to his feet, cocky fox grin ever present on face.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. The blonde rascal managed to save his life.

"You know Kakashi-sensei, I can't say I'm happy about you guys ditching me back at Tazuna's house." Naruto said with mock anger, raising an eyebrow.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands innocently, "Well forgive me for trying to be considerate of your hard work."

Naruto also shrugged, "I _guess_ it's ok. I think I'll let it slide this once."

Sakura and Tazuna had been watching the whole battle in angst up to the point where Kakashi was nearly killed. When the blonde Genin managed to save the silver-haired Jonin, it had to be one of the biggest reliefs they'd felt all day.

'Naruto you blockhead.' Sakura said with a small smile.

Zabuza had been rubbing his head. He had been thoroughly humiliated. Caught off guard by a mere Genin _twerp_ like _that_! "Who the hell is that kid anyway?"

Naruto smirked, having heard Zabuza. He jerked a thumb toward himself, "The names-"

"Naruto Uzumaki," Kakashi cut the blonde off, "Konoha's number one knuckle-headed ninja." Kakashi said proudly.

"Yeah, what he said." Naruto said plainly.

Zabuza spat, "You're all a bunch of jokes." He said spitefully.

"Oh yeah! Well this jokes about to deliver a punchline you'll never forget!" Naruto prepared the handsigns for shadow clone jutsu before Kakashi put up a hand to block him.

"No Naruto. I want you to stay on the sidelines for this one."

The Uzumaki wasn't pleased, "What! What for? You and Sasuke-teme got to have a crack at the guy, why not me?"

"You'll only get in the w-" The Hatake began to think back. Naruto _had_ grown leagues more since the days he was at the academy. He _did_ manage to catch a Jonin _offguard._ Why not let him help? "You know what, alright. How about you tag out Sasuke this round?" He looked to the Uchiha who was drenched in water, trying to get as much out of his hair as possible before the start of the next fight. The man then looked at the glass dome where Trunks was facing Haku. 'I wouldn't expect Trunks to take long with her. Perhaps he's having a bit of trouble?' "Hey Sasuke," He got the Uchiha's attention, "why don't you help out Trunks. Naruto'll help me out with Zabuza." Sasuke looked less than pleased to hear he was being replaced, but hadn't argued against it.

He ran to the ice dome.

Zabuza, got back to his feet. He picked up his Kubikiribocho with his right hand and laid the flat edge of his sword on his right shoulder. The man cracked his neck before rolling his shoulders. "Well Kakashi, are you ready for round 2?" The assassin leveled his sword at Kakashi and Naruto.

"Round 2? I thought we were at least in round 4." Kakashi scoffed before pulling a kunai. Naruto summoned up three shadow clones before they charged into battle.

XXXXX

Trunks shot dual Ki blasts at two mirrors, the first one disintegrating and the other one shattering. He was met with a flurry of needles to the back that stung him. "Darn it! There's gotta be a way out of here!"

"I'm afraid not. Although, I must admit, this is getting rather tiresome." Haku admitted. Her and Trunks then turned their heads to the direction of running footsteps.

'Oh no, what now!' Trunks thought dreadfully. When he saw Sasuke appear inside the dome with him, he almost pulled his hair out. "Sasuke, what are you doing here!?" Trunks growled out, trying to keep himself from shouting. The Uchiha had no idea what he got himself into.

"Kakashi thinks you work too slow," Sasuke pulled a kunai and held it in a reverse-grip. "I'm here to help take care of her." Sasuke slid into a fighting stance with his kunai in hand.

The saiyan prince sighed, "If you say so." It was then he noticed the difference in Sasuke's eyes. Trunks decided not to dwell on it.

"You've made a grave mistake by coming here." Haku said, filling her hands with senben. "I feel you should know that."

Trunks immediately got in front of Sasuke, shielding the Uchiha from (most) of the senben that showered over them. Sasuke hissed as he felt the sharp cold sting of a few stray senben catch him in his right shoulder, left calf, and a trio stick deep into his right forearm. "You Ok?" Trunks asked the raven-haired tennager.

"How the hell are you not getting stuck by these!? _"_ Sasuke growled in pain and anger as he viciously ripped out the needles in his forearm.

"Sorry, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Trunks said, His eyes narrowed, "But just try to stay behind me. I haven't had any problems in terms of her trying to hurt me." Trunks considered going super-saiyan, but the issue with that was, he wouldn't know if he could. Seeing as he hadn't got to use the form often, his body wasn't used to it. It still took a second for the teen to transform and being in a vulnerable position like that could prove fatal in this battle.

Haku wasn't one to get angry, but this was seriously starting to grate on her nerves. She had been at this battle for, kami-knows how long, and she still failed to find a way through the lavender-haired boys defenses. _Every_ enemy had a weakness. She couldn't keep up this kekkei-genkai forever, so she had to do something.

She pulled one senben, and looked over it. If this didn't work, then she may as well accept defeat and let the two boys kill her. Haku's chakra surged through the needle, outlining it in an invisible blue aura that showed that it was enhanced, _stronger,_ and would undoubtedly shoot faster. The teen made a silent prayer that this would work.

Trunks felt an _extremely_ sharp jolt of pain shoot up his arm. His head turned to his right bicep to see that a senben was sticking out of it. Then with a shaky hand, the saiyan pulled the needle out, seeing a small rivulet of blood drizzle out of the wound. "...That's a problem." He mumbled.

Haku smirked under her mask, 'Perfect.' Now she knew how to bring the warrior down.

"Sasuke move!" Trunks shouted as a wave of chakra-enhanced senben poured down. Not only was Sasuke in danger, but this time, Trunks was too. The two boys along with Haku became a set of blurs darting around the dome.

Sasuke and Trunks cried out as they were struck by senben. Sasuke received the worst of the damage, not really having the durable body that Trunks had. The Uchiha dropped to his knees, wheezing in pain from the needles that dug deeper into his body than what was natural, the ones that struck limbs passed through the flesh and muscle, and even grazed his _bones_. A nasty gash caught his right cheek that left blood seeping through. His shirt was torn in several places.

Trunks appeared in front of the Uchiha. "Come on Sasuke, you can't be finished yet!" Trunks told the raven-haired teen. The saiyan prince could understand though, he had senben sticking out of his arms and legs and they stung like a son-of-a-bitch! One actually got caught in his lower left calf, making that leg go numb.

"I'm _not!"_ Sasuke growled through the pain, _"_ But, I think I know a way to beat her." He whispered.

Trunks whispered back, "If so I wanna hear it, before she attacks again."

The Uchiha motioned towards the water on the ground, "See that, if you can get some of that water in the air then-" Sasuke gagged.

Trunks turned to see three senben sticking out of the Uchiha's neck. Sasuke's eye's widened before they rolled into the back of his head, his body falling lifelessly face first to the ground.

"Just because I can't hear you, doesn't mean I can't read lips." Haku said matter of factly even though Trunks couldn't hear her.

Time seemed to stop for the Demi-saiyan. The world went mute as Sasuke's body went lifelessly still. With a shaky hand Trunks shook his teammate, "S-Sasuke, wake up." Trunks begged, but the Uchiha wouldn't move a muscle. The Demi-saiyan's eye twitched. Once again in his life, he's failed to protect or even _save_ someone. So many have fallen, and this time, it was all his fault. His arrogance _let_ her finish her jutsu, get himself _trapped,_ and get Sasuke in this situation with him. The anger he felt began to bubble up, he clenched his fists and grit his teeth.

She was gonna pay for what she did.

Haku stared down at the saiyan who appeared to grieve over his comrades death. She felt just the faintest bit of pity, she never _liked_ having to kill, but this was just the unfortunate fate for those who intervened in her master's plans. "I'm sorry about your friend, but it should be known that-"

" _Just shut up…"_ A deep growl Trunks lips, surprising Haku. The teen across was shuddering in either sadness, anger, or regret, maybe a combination of the three. Haku noticed the air around her become warmer, even from within the glass. A blue flame enveloped the boy as he stood tall. Haku couldn't see the other teens face, but if she could she would see that his irises had disappeared, leaving only the white's visible. The flame began to grow bigger and more volatile, gaining a yellow-gold hue.

Xxxxx

Zabuza's sword sliced through a wave of Naruto clone's that burst in a wave of smoke. The assassin had been chopping them down for the past few minutes while fending off Kakashi at the same time. "Heh, you're doing no better with this kid than with the last one Kakashi. Just admit it, you're not beating me." Zabuza bragged as he turned to block an elbow from Kakashi with his forearm.

"You sure about that?" Kakashi jumped back.

Zabuza turned around to see Naruto finishing handsigns, " **Fūton: Renkūdan**!"

The assassin cursed before moving to dodge the balls of wind that shot from the Uzumaki's mouth. The last one came a bit too fast for him to simply weave through so he had to settle on blocking it with his sword, which was a mistake. The pocket of wind blew the swordsman's blade out of his hand, sending it spinning until it clattered to the pavement.

Now unarmed, Zabuza cursed before forming two water clones as a quick distraction for his next jutsu. Kakashi made short work of the clone before just noticing Zabuza forming a long series of signs. The Hatake was already familiar with it from the assassins fight with Trunks, "Oh no you don't!" Kakashi pulled out a scroll and unfolded it. The man knew that this particular summon would take considerably less time to execute than Zabuza's jutsu. Kakashi bit his thumb and smeared the blood down the scroll. " **Ninpou Summon: Earth Tracking Fang no Jutsu!"**

Something burst from beneath the ground, biting down on Zabuza's ankle. It was a dog. "What the hell!" The man shouted as more dogs appeared and bit down on him on all limbs of his body. Zabuza let out a loud yell of pain as one particular dog bit down on his right hand and crushed the bones. The Demon's eyes widened in pain, "D-Damn you Kakashi!" The man struggled to move but found that he couldn't from the canines holding him in place.

Sakura cheered, "Yeah, you got him Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto grinned, "Come on sensei finish him off."

Kakashi began forming the handsigns for his most infamous ninjutsu, before the air around them shifted, becoming suffocatingly warm.

A loud and pained yell broke through accompanied by a flash of bright yellow light, only growing brighter from the mirrors reflecting them back to one spot.

"K-Kakashi-Sensei, what is that?" Sakura asked as she shielded her eyes, although she had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

Kakashi had to cover his sharingan out of risk of it getting destroyed. The Jonin couldn't believe the amount of raw power that Trunks held. This had to be Bijuu level energy that he was giving out and it appeared that he was only powering up. "Trunks, what are you?" The Jonin whispered.

Haku shielded her eyes, maybe she picked the wrong target? Perhaps she should have took out Trunks before Sasuke. That would be a mistake she would come to regret. The lights died down, allowing her to peek through her mask in awe at the change that came about the warrior in front of her.

A gold aura hugged his body, burning with the same likeness of a flame. But that wasn't all. The teens once lavender hair stood up in a sweeping crown of sharp spikes, the exception of a few bangs hanging low in his face (A/N: He has the same super Saiyan hairstyle as kid Trunks), the boys eyes that were once blue and already focused, lonely, and hardened, were now teal and backed by an animalistic aggression, giving Haku the feeling that she was about to do battle with a wolf whose pack member she messed with.

"You," Trunks voice was rougher, almost like a growl, only adding to his intimidating demeanor. "Have just _royally_ pissed me off."

Haku was shaking. She was scared. She had thought she'd seen at least a good portion of what the boy was capable of when he fought Zabuza, but now, she knew she hadn't seen a fraction. She was safe from within the mirror, she knew that. But, she had to take this boy out. She drew three senben, and prepared an attack that would be aimed at the Saiyans throat, heart, and skull. The fact that she could be viewed from every mirror within the dome made her confident that Trunks wouldn't see this attack coming. He would die.

The _instant_ her body left the glass panel a fist crashed into into her face. Hard. She may as well have made contact with the force of a speeding train. Haku was thrown back through the panel she came from, smashing it into a million glass shards. Unconscious, her body met hard and unforgiving concrete, tumbling along it until she stopped in front of the rest of Team 7 and Zabuza.

Five wide eyes traveled from Haku, up to the one that defeated her. What they saw shocked them. A person that was dressed like the swordsman of their Team was strolling in their direction. The swept and spiked golden hair, the piercing teal eyes, increased muscle mass. It wasn't the Genin they knew... was it?

"T-Trunks?" Naruto asked, stopping the Saiyan who was walking like he was taking a deadly stroll through the park.

The saiyans head turned to the Uzumaki, giving the boy and the rest of team confirmation that it was indeed their friend.

"I got some explaining to do, I know." Trunks said plainly before he faced the false-hunter nin lying unconscious on the ground in front of him. Haku's mask was practically disintegrated from the blow.

As Trunks leveled a hand at her, preparing a blast that would wipe her from existence, Naruto shouted "Trunks wait!" The Saiyan paused as the yellow orb appeared in his hand. "You don't have to do this."

"Why not!?" Trunks shouted in confusion and anger, surprising Sakura and Kakashi. It wasn't like the teen to just shout like that. "She tried to kill me and she _killed Sasuke!"_

Sakura gasped, tears quickly filling her eyes. Naruto's breathing came up short. The stuck-up prissy Uchiha that he had called his rival, borderline-enemy, his first friend, was dead? Similar emotions that filled Trunks took over Naruto. Grief, anger, sorrow. The Uzumaki's fists clenched tight, to the point where blood dripped through his fingers. His blue eyes turned red and his canine's grew sharper. His back was to Kakashi and Sakura so they wouldn't have noticed.

Naruto took a deep breath and calmed down, letting the features fade away. Trunks decided to drop his hand and cancel the blast. The super saiyan form melted away from his body, his hair turning back to the same lavender that it once was. The prince, having enough of fighting, stepped away from the blonde and Haku.

"He's right you know." Naruto looked down to see it was Haku who spoke to him, her eyes barely open, "I did kill your friend. Why not kill me?"

The Uzumaki gave her disdainful glare, "Because, I don't think that would make me any better than you." He gave her a kick to the face that knocked her unconscious.

Kakashi turned to Zabuza. "Don't think I forgot about you Zabuza." Kakashi put together the handsigns for his next Jutsu, the raikiri.

"Heh, well played Kakashi, well played." The Demon said respectfully. He lost. Oh well, but by who better than Kakashi of the sharingan?

The second Kakashi finished his last hand sign, he and the others heard the tapping of a cane accompanied by amused chuckling.

"Well well well, looks like the so called 'Demon of the mist' failed again!" Gato mockingly laughed. Zabuza, Kakashi, and the rest of Team 7 noticed that the short man was backed by a small army of thugs, criminals, and ronin. All who had leering looks in their eyes.

Zabuza gave the man a scowl, "Why are you here?"

The kingpin gave an evil grin. "Plans change. Well, actually, I was planning on doing this from the very beginning. You're gonna die here."

"What?!"

The man snickered, "You really thought I was gonna pay _you_?"

By this time the rest of team 7 that had been spectating were surprised by this turn of events...to say the least.

Gato continued, "You see, hiring a normal ninja is expensive and there's always the chance they'll betray me, so I get you missing nins who are easy to take care of afterwards. I have the ninjas take care of each other then finish them off with numbers while they're exhausted. Good plan, don't you think?" He let out another laugh, "To think that you would have been a problem Zabuza, you're a damn _joke_! You can't even kill a couple of kids! We'll easily kill you all now."

'There's so many of them.' Naruto thought.

"Kakashi." The Demon's voice caught the Jounin's attention, "Looks like I've been betrayed, which means my contract is null. I have no more reason to pursue the old man." Tazuna felt a relief like no other flood him.

Kakashi nodded and dispersed his dog summons, setting Zabuza free. "So, what are we gonna do now?"

"Tsk, you gotta ask? This bastard played me." Zabuza's eyes narrowed dangerously, " _No one,_ plays me and lives."

He turned to Trunks, "Hey kid, toss me your sword."

Trunks pulled his blade and debated if he should give it to the assassin. If the man's no longer an enemy...why not? Trunks tossed the blade to Zabuza who snatched it out of the air with his left hand.

He rushed at the army of mercenaries with the blade held in his good hand, sun gleaming off the metal.

Gato's eyes widened in horror when he saw his reflection in the metal, "That's enough, Kill him!" Gato shouted at his hired help as he moved through the crowd, trying to get behind them for safety.

"Sure thing," One of them replied, "A badly injured ninja against these numbers, there's no way he can win." His eyes widened in horror as he saw the spirit of a Demon enveloping Zabuza as he charged towards them.

Zabuza started slashing his way through the ranks towards Gato. The Demon of the mist hacked through the thugs, taking off limbs and heads and opening up stomachs. One tried to attack from behind, he swung the sword around and sliced him. Just then one of them got lucky and managed to stab a katana into Zabuza's back. The others took advantage of this and stuck their weapons in as well.

Ignoring the pain Zabua continued, reaching the business tycoon. Gato gagged and coughed up blood, looking down he saw the sword sticking deep into his stomach, having exited his back as well.

"J-Just die already!" Gato yelled in pain. Zabuza just held the blade up high, picking up the business man along with it who hollered in pain, feeling the metal tearing through his insides.

"Not without you, we'll go to hell together. Then we'll see if I really am a devil." Zabuza grinned as Gato's dying eyes stared into his. Zabuza leaned in and whispered, "Spending an eternity with you is gonna be fun." He kicked the little man off the blade and over the bridge, sending him into the salty seawater below.

The surviving guns fearfully stepped back as Zabuza turned to them. He managed to walk through the crowd that stepped to the side, 'This is good-bye Haku. Thank you for everything. I'm sorry.' He fell face first into the ground.

The Demon of the mist was no more.

Kakashi shook his head and covered his sharingan. Zabuza may have been an enemy for a while. But he was respectable. Sakura gazed at the mans body, before turning to Kakashi, "Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza's dead?" The pinkette asked, although she was already certain of her answer. A slight nod from her Jonin confirmed it.

Trunks himself was willing to kill the man a short time ago. But now, he felt kind of bad. He couldn't explain why though. He had no reason to feel bad for a man that tried to kill his friends an hour ago.

Naruto's lip trembled, showing he was sharing similar emotions to his teammates.

Sakura's green eyes widened, "Hey, where's Sasuke!" She searched for the Uchiha who was lying face down in the spot Trunks left him. Naruto and Trunks followed her to the Uchiha's body. Sakura's eyes teared up once she got an eyeful of the Uchiha's condition.

"D-Did I die?"

The teens eye's widened at the familiar voice.

"Sasuke-Kun!" Sakura cried, burying her face into the half-conscious Uchiha's neck making him grunt in pain.

"Sasuke, you're alive!" Naruto said happily as he kneeled next to the Uchiha. Kakashi and Tazuna smiled knowing the Uchiha was doing just fine.

At first Trunks was happy and at the same time felt _really_ stupid. He must have forgot to sense for Sasuke's life force during the heat of the battle. But then, the prince grew confused. He could have sworn that Haku aimed to kill the Uchiha. She practically turned him and Trunks into pincushions. Unless,

"She wasn't trying to kill us." Trunks mumbled, although his Team heard him clearly.

"What? How couldn't she have been? She worked with Zabuza didn't she?" Naruto asked. Kakashi and Sakura were also curious.

Trunks looked to her unconscious form, "She was capable of hitting someone with pinpoint accuracy. If she wanted to she could have stuck us in the heart and got it over with. Why didn't she?" It was safe to say that the Uchiha never felt so lucky.

Kakashi nodded. "You're right. We'll just have to question her when we get back to Tazuna's house." The Hatake picked up Haku bridal style.

Team 7 and Tazuna prepared to leave the bridge before a voice shouted, "HEY!" Their heads turned to see the remainder of Gato's army crowded with their weapons ready.

"You just killed our meal ticket!"

"Now we're gonna have to pillage this little town as payment!"

Tazuna was once again on edge. Couldn't his village ever catch a break?

Although Kakashi didn't voice it, he was nervous. His team was exhausted and most likely couldn't handle that crowd of bandits.

Just as the men pushed forward a crossbow bolt shot into the ground right in front of them. All eyes turned to Inari, the boy standing tall with a helmet and backed by a mob of villagers.

"You creeps sure you wanna mess with my town!" The kid said boldly. The villagers hollered in agreement. The bandits seemed apprehensive, but still didn't back down.

A tear came to Tazuna's eye, proud of who his grandson and fellow villagers had become.

Naruto and Trunks grinned to each other. Naruto formed about thirty shadow clones behind him and Trunks powered up, letting a wide blue flame blast to life around his body. Kakashi shrugged before laying down Haku, 'I might was bluff.' Before he made a set of 10 clones.

"You idiots _really_ wanna do this?" Naruto and his clones asked in unison.

Seeing that they were completely and totally outnumbered the bandits turned tail and ran for the opposite side of the bridge, the _unfinished_ side. The men didn't hesitate to jump off.

The men and women of the Hidden Mist all cheered in joy. Their village was finally free. Naruto helped up Sasuke, Kakashi picked up Haku, and a group of the villagers picked up Zabuza's corpse.

"What do we do now Kakashi?" Sakura asked the Jonin of the team. Trunks also listened in.

The son of the White Fang casually said, "What do you mean 'what do we do'? We still have a mission to complete. We stay until the bridge is done and then we go home."

There was bound to be a festival and a lively celebration that night, one that Team 7 wouldn't wanna miss.

XXXX

A/N: So I feel some of you could tell that this chapter was rushed in some parts. My apologies. But I really wanna get these chapters out without having you guys wait too long and even though I rushed it this chapter was pretty lengthy. Now, some of you may feel that Sasuke was too dumb in this fight for getting himself trapped in Haku's ice mirrors like that, but you must know that there wasn't a way for him to really know what was going on on the inside. And hey, any fighter can make mistakes so write it off as PIS.

Oh, and one last thing while it's on my mind. Some readers want Naruto to learn Ki and Trunks to learn Chakra in this fic. While I won't say that it's not gonna happen, I don't know if I'll have it happen for a while. It's still possible but that may not come about until the Shippuden storyline.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed. DarkSun82 signing out.


	9. Going Home

A/N: _Very_ short chapter, I know. But tnext two or so chapters are going to be filler that leads up to the Chunin Exams. Hope you enjoy!

XXX

Haku slowly awoke from one of the best rests she ever had. Actually when one thought about it, she hadn't _really_ got to sleep for most of the week she was taking care of Zabuza. She found herself in a comfy matt bed in a dim lit furnished room, the lack of light being a result of the closed curtains.

Her brown eyes darted to the sides of her bed, looking for her supplies. She also noticed that she wasn't in the same attire that she was in during the bridge assault. Someone put her in a regular black t-shirt with her pants removed to just her gray panties. Feeling extremely vulnerable, she prepared to leap out of the covers and sneak her way out of the house, planning to kill anyone who posed a threat to her.

As she pulled the covers from off of her body she felt a presence that instantly became accompanied by a voice, "Nice to see you're awake." The voice came off as a calm and laid-back purr.

Haku's head snapped to her left to see Kakashi leaned against the bedroom wall. His only visible eye was narrowed dangerously. The muscles in the girls arms tensed up defensively, showing that she was ready to lash out if necessary.

Kakashi held up a hand, "I'm _not_ going to harm you," his eye narrowed dangerously, "Unless you give me reason to."

At least she felt a little better knowing that.

"Why did you bring me here? And where is Zabuza-san?" Haku asked the instant the thoughts came to mind.

The Hatake's eye closed, wondering which question to answer first. After taking a moment to think he said, "I brought you here because I have a few questions for you." Kakashi approached the Ice Shinobi and take a knee right next to her. The fact that he still held a calm yet malicious glare told Haku that if she answered this question wrong she may die. "Why did you spare Sasuke?" He asked.

The tool's gaze couldn't meet Kakashi's, staying lowered to the bed sheets. "I've never enjoyed killing anyone. Or even causing pain. Even though I was under Zabuza-san's orders I was hoping to bend them this one time and hopefully spare them. It was just unfortunate that they were tough enough to stay conscious."

Kakashi nodded, pleased with what he was told. The hostile gaze in his eye went away. "I assumed that. But why spare them when you've certainly killed others before?"

This time her eyes met Kakashi's. "Because, I could relate to them." Kakashi's raised eyebrow prompted her to continue, "Your team. Unlike the other men that I've killed, your team had precious people in their lives. So do I. I just figured that if I were to sway from Zabuza-san's command, it may as well be for a good cause."

The Hatake was flabbergasted to say the least. Was this girl really _Zabuza's_ student? She seemed to be so kind hearted and gentle, traits that would obviously disgust someone like Zabuza. The silver-haired Jonin didn't want to believe it, but it seemed he was left with no choice. Kakashi pinched his brow in frustration. As he stood to his feet Haku stopped him,

"Wait, you...you didn't tell me what became of Master Zabuza." Haku hurriedly said, a sign of her nervousness.

Kakashi's shoulders dropped. Normally he would have no problem smacking someone in the face with the truth, but in her case, it didn't sit well with him. "Gato betrayed the two of you. He planned on killing you both right from the start. Zabuza…died while taking Gato with him."

Haku's expression was blank for a moment. The corners of her mouth twitched before her eyes watered up. She quickly closed her eyes in an attempt to closet her emotions. There was a small sniffle as she spoke, "He died with honor yes?"

The Jonin nodded, "He took out Gato and as many of his men as he could before going down. I'd say that there was some honor in that somewhere." Before he walked out the door he turned to her, "My team and Tazuna's family are in the house when you feel that you're ready to come out." He closed the door behind him. The sound of sniffling could be heard as he continued down the hallway.

As the Jonin walked into the kitchen he found his team, Tazuna, and Inari sitting at the dining room table while Tsunami was making breakfast. Trunks, Naruto, and Sakura were talking while Sasuke brooded like he normally did. Sasuke and Trunks arms and legs were wrapped tight in bandages.

The second Sakura saw Kakashi she asked, "How is she Kakashi-sensei?"

"She'll be fine. She's just...pulling herself together." The Jonin said as he sat down in the kitchen seat. His eyes traveled to Trunks, who grew nervous as if he knew where this would lead. "Let's all go outside. We need to talk." Trunks gulped.

Team 7 sat around in a circle in the forest. "Alright Trunks," Kakashi started, "tell us what the _hell_ that was yesterday."

All eyes shot at him. The pressure was making the demi-saiyan begin to sweat. How was he supposed to explain to his teammates about a super saiyan without telling them he's half alien? "Um," He started awkwardly, "what you saw was a super saiyan."

It was safe to say that there were blank expressions all around.

Of course Naruto was the first to ask, "The hell is that?" The rest of the teams silence confirmed similar thoughts.

Taking a breath, Trunks continued, "Basically, it's a form I can take that'll give me heightened strength, speed, and a boost in power."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in both confusion and jealousy. Just what did the Uchiha miss when he was unconscious? And this imbecile _really_ had another form he could take to get stronger? His fists balled tight.

Kakashi rubbed his chin, "Yeah, I think I got that part myself, but what's a _saiyan_?" He said the last word like it was foreign to him. Which it was.

The Demi-saiyan's eye twitched. Now this was going to be difficult. "Um, a saiyan was what my father was. They were a group of pirates basically. Only saiyans were, um, _gifted_ with the capability of becoming a super saiyan."

Kakashi once again rubbed his chin, "So it's basically a bloodline limit. But how does one unlock or achieve this ability?"

Trunks head lowered, "Several ways. It can be substantial amounts of stress, a need, anger...a loss."

Kakashi had a feeling where Trunks was headed with this, having listened in on the demi-saiyans conversation with Inari.

Sakura's eyes grew soft, "H...How did you become one?" Judging by the way Trunks dragged out the last few words, she had a feeling her question was answered. It was only confirmed by the twitching in the corners of Trunks mouth.

Kakashi's eyes softened as well, knowing all too well what it was like to lose people who meant so much in one's life.

Naruto was confused. He may have let the whole super saiyan explanation and origin fly right over his head but he had no clue as to why his team seemed so crestfallen.

The Jonin sighed, knowing that that was enough revelation for the day. Kakashi knew that Trunks was keeping something from them. Eventually all of his secrets would come to light, "Let's go back inside. We can see if Tsunami's finished cooking."

Breakfast was relatively quiet, which was very ironic seeing as the atmosphere was lively and celebratory yesterday night. Team 7 were still thinking back on the information they were given while Tazuna's family were just following along with the silence.

A slight creaking in the floorboards brought everyone's attention to the doorway. Haku stood nervously glancing to each individual at the table.

"Ah, goodmorning! Take a seat, there's enough food for you too!" Tazuna said joyfully, feeling grateful that he wasn't gonna die today. Tsunami gave her an assuring smile to let her know it was okay.

As Haku took a seat next to Sakura and across from Sasuke, Naruto couldn't take his eyes off of her. 'She's even cuter than Sakura!' He thought with a red face.

Sasuke's face grew red in both embarrassment and anger, embarrassment that he got his ass handed to him by this woman, and anger that he had to eat with her, the day after!

Trunks found the situation awkward as well. He wasn't too fond of sitting at a table with someone he almost blasted yesterday afternoon. He brought a cup of water up to his lips and sipped at it, attempting to draw his attention elsewhere.

"So," Sakura started, hoping to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. In all honesty, she was threatened by Haku's appearance. Mostly because she knew that the other girl was better looking, "Now that you're master is...you know, what are you gonna do now?"

Haku sat silently for a moment, "I don't know. I have nowhere to go."

Everyone felt kind of bad. And for good reason too. Haku wasn't evil, and she wasn't even a bad person. She was just a kid, like them, who followed the orders of someone who did truly evil things.

Kakashi decided to speak up, "Well, if you want you can stay here with my team while Tazuna finishes the bridge. After the bridge is complete then, we can move on from there." The Hatake wasn't sure if he wanted to offer her the chance to come to Konoha, but he knew that Tazuna wouldn't mind her staying at the house with them.

The ice-nin seemed to be considering the offer, before she nodded, "That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much."

Tazuna and Tsunami smiled before the old man let out a jolly, "Perfect! It'll be great to have ya around!" Tazuna wiped his hands clean before standing up from his seat, "Now, we've got alot of work to do. Let's get this bridge taken care of!"

XXXX

The following weeks went by relatively fast. Team 7 assisted the construction workers with the building of the bridge, boosting progress speed by 10 fold. Haku's presence was something that they were growing accustomed to, she was actually rather sweet and would lend a hand in whatever way she knew how to. During the team's training sessions she gave Trunks tips on how to spot Kakashi, making the Demi-saiyan exponentially better at tracking the Jonin in their little game.

It was now three weeks later, and the entire village of Wave was gathered to see Team 7 and Haku off on the now completed bridge that linked Wave to the mainland.

"See you around Inari!" Naruto said as he fistbumped the younger boy.

"It's been fun kid!" Trunks said as he rustled Inari's hair.

The younger boy's eyes grew wetter as he spoke, a tremble underlying his tone, "Yeah, it's been great. I'm...I'm gonna miss you guys."

Naruto's mouth quivered as he spoke, his eyes growing just as wet as Inari's, "You know...it's okay to cry when you're happy."

Inari's mouth began quivering as well, "What are you talking about? I told you I wasn't gonna cry anymore, didn't I?"

"That's great dude." He quickly turned around, "Well, adios!" Naruto said as he and Trunks turned to walk with their team, the demi-saiyan giving one final wave to the villagers who were shouting good-bye and other wishes of luck and farewells.

Sakura took one glance at Inari and another glance at Naruto (both boys faces being reduced to tears and runny noses), before deadpanning, 'Give me a break.'

As he watched them leave Tazuna couldn't keep the smile from his face as he looked at the boys that had become such positive role models for his grandson.

"Those boys," The bridge builder said, earning the attention of everyone around him.

"Those boys truly did save us. Not only did they free us from Gato, but they changed Inari's heart. And in doing so created a bridge that spelled hope for a dying country." Finished Tazuna with a smile.

"Speaking of bridges we still need to name this one." Said Tsunami.

"Heh, how about 'The Great Tazuna Bridge?'." Said Tazuna, making Tsunami roll her eyes while the other villagers laughed.

"How about 'The Great Naruto and Trunks Bridge', a bridge named after the heroes of Wave." Said Tsunami.

"That's too long." Someone within the crowd pointed out.

"And it sounds lame." Someone else pointed out.

A light bulb went off over Inari's head, "Ooh, I have an idea, how about 'The Maelstrom Bridge of Hope'?"

Tazuna rubbed his chin in thought, "It's still a bit of a mouthful, but it has a nice ring to it!" The builder turned to the crowd behind him, "All for the 'The Maelstrom Bridge of Hope' say 'I'!"

"I!" The crowd shouted in unison.

XXXXXXX

Team 7 found their way to a cliff that overlooked the Wave village. An orange sunset sky made the view a beauty to look at. This proved to be a landmark that served as Zabuza's memorial and burial ground. The Demon of the Mist's sword stuck from the ground served as his tombstone. The teens and Kakashi stood back as Haku silently paid her respects for her former master.

Three fingers pressed to Haku's lips before she pressed them to Zabuza's blade, and then to the spot of Zabuza's burial. Her eyes closed in a silent prayer, 'Farewell...father.' She stood up, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Have you decided what you want to do?" Kakashi asked, "I've offered you the choice at returning to the village with us, but you haven't given me a definitive answer."

Haku turned to face Team 7, "I know. And I've decided against it."

The Uzumaki was flabbergasted, "But why? You could easily make a life for yourself inside the village."

"Perhaps, but during my time under Zabuza-san's tutelage I cannot deny the atrocities that I've helped him commit. For that I will travel in search of ways to redeem myself."

Kakashi nodded, finding the explanation reasonable, and very respectable. Naruto still looked as if he wasn't convinced of her excuse, but frowned and nodded anyways.

Haku approached Trunks, Sasuke, and Naruto. She turned Sasuke and bowed, "I know that it may be difficult for you to do, and you have no reason to, but I must ask that you forgive me for almost killing you." (A/N: The rhyming was unintentional.)

The Uchiha gave an angry sigh, "Sure, whatever." He grumbled.

That was enough for Haku.

She then turned to Trunks and Naruto before bowing to both of them, "After all this time I haven't gotten to thank you both."

The two friends gave puzzled looks to one another before Naruto gave her a raised eyebrow, "Thank us for what?"

She turned to Trunks, "You for not killing me," she turned to Naruto, "and you for convincing him not to kill me." She said with a warm smile that made the two boys blush.

"Yeah sure it's no problem." They said in semi-unison, Naruto speaking slightly faster while Trunks was normal pace with a bashful tone.

Haku giggled before she turned her back on Team 7, "Farewell. I'm sure our paths will cross again."

The group waved their good-bye's to Haku.

As the girl walked her seperate way, Kakashi laid his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulders. "Well team, it's time we get moving. It'll be a long walk back to the village." The Jonin turned on his heel and walked, his Genin following close behind him.

In all honesty, they were getting homesick anyways.

XXXXXXX

After a three day journey Team 7 managed to finally make it back through the village of the leafs front gates. The Jonin decided to squeeze a little physical training in there by making the teens sprint over 10 miles to speed up travel time.

"Yo Trunks, wanna grab a snack at Ichiraku's later?" Naruto asked as the group walked through the open gates.

Sakura passed an angry glare at the blonde. She was actually planning on asking Trunks to spend the rest of the day with her but the baka beat her to it.

Kakashi noticed this and smiled. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Trunks waved him off, "Naw, it's cool. I think I'm gonna-"

A shinobi shunshined in front of the Genin and Kakashi. The fact that the man appeared to be distressed baffled the team. What could he want? They _just_ got back.

When the man saw Trunks he seemed a tad bit relieved, "Trunks Briefs, thank Kami. You're mother...she's awake!"

XXXX

A/N: And that's where we end this filler chapter. Like I said before, this was gonna be a shorter chapter. I may have a couple of these short chaps to fill in the gaps to the Chunin Exams. Now, Bulma is waking up from her almost two month long coma. How will she react to this new world? Find out on the next chapter of Mirai Shinobi!


	10. Waking Up

A/N: Here we go!

XXX

The saiyan was hastily following the messenger shinobi through the hospital hallways. Apparently they moved Bulma's bed to another wing of the hospital. Naruto decided to tag along even though Trunks tried persuading him not to. It honestly wasn't a huge deal to the prince having Naruto come along anyways. Trunks grew increasingly more antsy as he continued through the hospital, wondering if the idiot guiding him could move any faster.

The shinobi stopped in front of a door marked 'G32' through the engraving on the door. There were also two Anbu standing to either side of the door, "Here's the room." The man said as he held his arm out to lead Trunks and Naruto inside.

Although the saiyan hurried through the door, when he was inside he found himself moving a lot slower and cautiously. The reasoning, he didn't know why. He saw his mother's bed set against the wall across the room. Bulma, sat in bed reading a book.

The prince hesitated, "Mom?"

Bulma's stiffened, her eyes widening as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. Her head slowly turned towards the all too familiar voice. "T...Trunks!" She gasped, her eyes tearing.

Smiling, the saiyan ran to his mother, the two sharing a tight embrace.

"How long have you been awake?" Trunks asked the blue haired woman.

"About three days. That man, the _Hokage_ , was here when I woke up and he told me you were out on a mission."

Trunks pulled back and nervously scratched his head, "Oh, I guess you know that I'm-"

"A ninja?" Bulma finished, her tone showing that she wasn't too thrilled about his position. She sighed, "Look, I don't know how I feel about you being what equates to a _child soldier_ , but I understand that we owe a debt to these people for taking care of us."

Trunks nodded, expecting a response like that. It was then that Bulma noticed Naruto, who was standing by the doorway, "Who's he?" She asked her son.

Trunks mentally slapped himself, having forgotten that Naruto was in the room as well, "Oh, sorry mom, that's Naruto, he's my friend, and my teammate."

The Uzumaki, in a rare display of timidness, scratched the back of his head before letting out a nervous, "H-Hi." The act made Bulma chuckle. Only a few months in and Trunks had genuine friends. Sure he once had Gohan, but that was more of a big brother or father figure than a buddy he could interact with his own age.

Bulma sighed, looking towards the window that was against the same wall her bed was pushed against, making viewing the outside impossible, "You know, I still have yet to see what the outside world looks like. You boys mind getting me out of this bed? I haven't used my feet in months you know."

Trunks held out left arm for his mother to hold onto for support. The inventor removed the sheets from her body and gingerly moved to put her feet on the ground. A white hospital gown was her obvious attire. As she stood up she found her legs to be wobbly, as she expected. It was then she noticed Naruto walk up and offer his arm, which she gladly took.

With slow and easy steps the two boys managed to lead the woman away from her hospital bed and out of the door. The shinobi outside still stood as still as statues. "Hey mom, did the Hokage say it was ok for you to leave the room?" Trunks asked.

Bulma nodded, "He said for us to meet him in his office to further discuss our… situation."

"Hey, what happened that was bad enough to put you in the hospital for three months?" Naruto asked.

Trunks and Bulma exchanged nervous glances, "Uh, long story." Trunks said dismissively.

The blond was tempted to push them for an answer, but decided to drop it.

After getting signed out of the hospital, Bulma took her first steps out of the door and into the ninja world. The village of Konohagakure fascinated her, the traditional oriental architecture of the buildings with the small mix of modern influences mixed in. While bedridden she did get to read several books on the history of the village and the elemental nations, allowing her to get a basic understanding of this new land. Like Trunks she had to admit that the lack of flying cars, or worse, no cars at all, would be something she had to get used to. Either way it was a breath of fresh air to look at buildings that haven't been reduced to ruins and rubble.

It was just a shame that this would be the only intact civilization that her son would get to know.

The trio came up on what Bulma recalled as the Hokage building, having seen pictures in one of the books she read. Upon entering and making a rather toilsome trek up the stairs, they stood before the Hokage's door, that was also guarded by two Anbu's much like Bulma's hospital room was.

Naruto gently released Bulma's arm and walked up to the big brown closed door. His hand came up like he was going to gently rap against it before it slammed into the hard wood several times, loudly shouting "Yo old man, you got visitors!"

Bulma gave Trunks a questionable look, making the saiyan prince return her a nervous one. Silently telling her she'd get used to it.

A sigh could be heard, "You can come in Naruto." Hiruzen's exasperated voice spoke, making the blonde grin and throw the door open, revealing the Hokage who was sitting at his desk with pointed eyes trained directly at Naruto. If eyes could curse, Hiruzen's would be saying something along the lines of 'Damn you boy!' When he noticed Bulma he completely disregarded the blonde rascal, "Oh, Ms. Briefs, please take a seat." With a wave of his hand two Anbu took her free arm and the arm from Trunks and helped her to the chair in front of the Hokage's desk.

Trunks stood next to his mom seeing as there wasn't another chair to sit in.

Hiruzen passed a glance to an Anbu who nodded and picked up Naruto by the scruff of his jacket, making the blonde thrash and curse, "Hey, what the hell are you-" And they disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Another Anbu exited the room and closed the door behind him.

The room was silent as Sarutobi reached into his drawer and pulled out his pipe, tapping tobacco into it before lighting it. He took a puff of smoke before focusing on the Briefs family in front of him. "Now, I believe we should discuss your little predicament." The old-man's eyes narrowed, "And you can start by telling me _exactly_ what happened. No beating around the bush or giving half-truths."

Bulma appeared nervous, not knowing if it was a good idea to tell the old man everything. Mainly out of fear of being labeled as mentally psychotic. A calming hand resting on her shoulder accompanied with an assuring nod from her son convinced her to spill her secrets, "Well," the blue haired woman started , "I was, building a time machine, and it backfired and sent us here."

Hiruzen leaned back in his seat and nodded, "I believe you." Bulma's eyes widened, making Hiruzen continue, "You see, while you and your son were unconscious I had your memories scanned. The most recent portion. What we were able to reach as a conclusion was that you two… are not of this world." That last part seemed to be something that the old man didn't sit well with.

Bulma seemed unsurprised, "I came to that conclusion on my own." She mumbled, even though the Hokage heard her clearly.

Hiruzen nodded again, "What do you believe could be the cause of this? Your, _Time Machine,_ sending you to our world?"

Bulma's tapped her cheek as she thought for a second, "I have came up with one hypothesis, although it may be just a little hard for you to understand." The Hokage got comfortable in his chair, taking a puff from his pipe and tipping it, a sign for Bulma to continue, "The Flux Capacitor, the device that's supposed to make time travel possible, was designed personally by me to split the fabric between time and space. I also had another mechanic in the machine that allowed us to pinpoint when and where in time we wanted to go, but that's beside the point. Now, I have no doubt that what caused the malfunction in the machine was due to that capacitor acting up, but what caused the glitch in the F.C I have no idea."

Hiruzen tapped his chin in a thinking manner, having grasped the basic mechanics of their machine. "So you believe that a malfunction in this _Flux Capacitor_ threw you into our dimension? Is what I'm getting from this." Bulma nodded.

Trunks had no idea what they were talking about at all, he just wanted to get home so he could continue his training to combat the androids.

"Do you believe it will be possible for the two of you to return home?" The Hokage asked.

Trunks was the one to answer, "Yeah, of course we can! My mom'll have another machine ready soon and we'll be out of here."

Bulma passed her son an unsure glance. "I think I have some schematics in my project journals. I could be wrong though."

Sarutobi stroked the hairs on his chin,"I just have one last question. What was the purpose of you building a _Time_ Machine? What event could you possibly want to alter?"

Bulma sighed, knowing that some dark memories were going to resurface, "14 years ago in our world, a great man by the name of Son Goku died of a heart virus. That of which there was no cure. Later on, two cyborgs that were created by a madman surfaced and begun to kill the earth's inhabitants by the thousands. There was nothing that could be done to stop them, their power being great enough to wipe out the Earths defenders…" Her lips trembled, and her voice cracked "who my husband and Goku were a part of." She quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat be continued, "The androids have managed to kill so many, and destroy so much that our world is now in ruins, the survivors living in fear of when their going to die next. I thought that by going back in time and saving Goku, and warning the Earth's special forces, the androids could be defeated and there could be a peaceful timeline."

Hiruzen's pipe almost fell from his mouth. He hadn't expected their world to be so...dark. Even though he said he was done with questions, he still found himself asking one more, "Would killing these cyborgs erase the events from your timeline?"

Bulma went still for a moment, her head lowering, "No. I've deduced that time travel operates on the multiverse theory. Meaning that if one timeline changes it breaks off into a whole separate timeline. In other words, we save one timeline while ours is still the same." A small smile came across her face, "I just thought there should be at least one world where the androids didn't rule."

The Fire Shadow sighed, "I must say that was a noble effort on your part." knowing he was going to need more time to think over this new information about the visitors, he would need to be alone. "As we've discussed before, Trunks-kun will be a shinobi in service of Konohagakure. In a way this will be his method of paying off both your hospital bills." Hiruzen grinned.

Bulma rolled her eyes, having already showed her discomfort with Trunks being a child soldier.

"And it's already been proven that Trunks has a place to rest." Sarutobi had took it upon himself to spy on the boy at times using his crystal ball.

The genius turned to her son who pulled out the capsule tray from within his inside jacket pocket, making her give a relieved smile. "We'll be fine Hokage sir."

The old man chuckled. "Well, you two seem to be situated. You're both free to go. Oh, and Trunks," He tossed the Demi-saiyan a bag of money. "Congratulations on your first _A_ -ranked mission. Give Naruto my regards." He said joyfully as Trunks helped up Bulma from her chair.

"I will, thanks alot!" Trunks said as he steadily led his mom out the door.

As the two walked out of the main door to the tower they found Naruto sitting on the steps outside, on the verge of passing out from boredom. Upon hearing the door open the blonde turned to see his friend and his mom exiting the building. "Finally, you guys all set with the old man?" Naruto asked as he took Bulma's spare arm and speeding up the walk.

Trunks was the one to nod, "Yeah, and he said congrats on the A-rank."

Naruto grinned, "It's about time I'm getting acknowledged for my hard work around here."

Bulma chuckled, "So, Naruto, how did you get to know my _precious baby boy_." She said the last part to purposely embarrass her son. Which worked well seeing as his face turned beet red and fell.

Naruto snickered at Trunks despair before answering Bulma, "Well Trunks and I went to the ninja academy together, he saved my life, and became my first real friend!"

"Awww how sweet." Bulma said with a bubbly tone in her voice.

The three made their way into the forests of Konoha. During their walk Trunks would use his fingers to zap a trail into the grass that led from the village. "Hey, we don't wanna get too far in. Let's stop here." Trunks said as he noted a clearing that would hold their house. The saiyan dug out the capsule tray.

"What are we doing out here anyway?" Naruto asked as the saiyan pulled out a capsule from its tray. The blondes question was answered as Trunks tossed the pill that erupted in a cloud of white smoke. What replaced the pill was a medium sized yellow dome house that was unlike anything the Uzumaki had ever seen before. "That...is freakin awesome." Naruto said with wide eyes.

The door to the house opened automatically to allow the three to walk inside. What Naruto was introduced to was a neatly furnished living room with a leather couch in front of a large flat screen TV that was plugged against the wall. The tv, Naruto didn't even know what it was after being used to the old box styled ones. A small glass coffee table sat in front of the couch, a vase with flowers in the center of it. Light blue walls gave the inside of the home a more welcoming feel that was backed by the futuristic decor. The ceiling held built in circular lights that kept the house illuminated. A small but serviceable kitchen was built a bit further out from the living room, holding a large silver refrigerator and a few cabinets. To either side of the entranceway were doors, the left one being an opening to Trunks' bedroom and the right being Bulma's' bedroom.

The Uzumaki was brought out of his stupor by Trunks leading them into Bulma's room, her door opening automatically as well. Bulma's room was fairly large with a queen sized bed, carpeted floor, a work desk with a chair, and a large window to view the woods on the outside. The blue curtain on the window being able to open and close automatically.

Bulma was sat into the chair by her work desk to give her legs a break.

"Will you be okay?" Naruto asked.

"I'll be fine kiddo, thanks. I'll just need some time for my legs to get back coordinated." Bulma said.

Trunks turned to Naruto, "Hey, you mind waiting in the living room? I need a moment with my mom." The Demi-saiyan asked his friend.

"Yeah, no problem dude." Naruto said as he left from the room.

Trunk's called after, "You can raid the fridge if you want!" He immediately heard the sound of scurrying footsteps and the sound of the refrigerator door opening, making Trunks and Bulma chuckle.

"He seems like a really nice kid. Something about him reminds me of-" Bulma stopped herself, "Anyways, what were you needing to ask me son?"

"When were you going to get started on another machine?" Was the first thing he said.

Bulma sighed and pinched her brow. She knew he was going to ask that, "Look, I'm not going to mince words here. To tell you the truth, I don't know if I can make another one."

"What are you talking about? We can't just stay here! There are people back home who need us, who need _me_!" The survivor couldn't believe what his mom just said.

"You think I don't know that!? What do you want me to do? You haven't the slightest idea how long it took me to gather the equipment to put together that prototype, hell, some of that hardware I had to make _personally_. What do you think I can do when we're in a world that's _behind_ us technologically?"

Trunks fists clenched tight, "So your just giving up!? Gohan wouldn't give up, he would find a way to get back home if it killed him."

"No offense kid, but Gohan wouldn't have the slightest clue on how to get back. Had I had the equipment to build another machine I damn well would build another one, but the fact of the matter is, I _don't_."

The Demi-saiyans fists clenched tighter, to the point where one could hear his skin stretching, his eyes teared up, "Those people are doomed. Without me, they have no hope of defeating the androids. They'll just keep getting picked off until there's none of them left."

Bulma's eyes teared up as well, her voice choking up as she spoke, "How do you think I feel? It's my fault that we're in this situation in the first place. I know it hurts, but I'm _sorry._ "

Crimson rivulets streamed from the saiyan prince's palms, dripping onto the floor. His head was lowered allowing his lavender hair to shadow his eyes. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Bulma tried reaching out to him, but found it a fruitless effort. His anger was justified, and the capsule corp heiress knew it. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

XXX

Naruto was digging into a bowl of the instant ramen that the Briefs kept in their kitchen cabinet when he saw Trunks storm out of his mother's room. The blonde had heard angry shouting coming from the room but decided not to but into somebody's business for once, especially since he was a visitor in their home.

But, when his friend had an issue, that's where he got involved.

"Hey Trunks, wait up!" Naruto called out as Trunks left out the front door. The blonde chased after him.

Trunks was walking through the forest as he seethed over what Bulma said. How could she just give up? How could she just turn her back on all of the people that him and his master fought to protect? That the _original_ Z-Fighters fought to protect? How could she just let the billions of lives that were lost go unavenged? It was so infuriating that the teen could scream.

He didn't even notice the footsteps running up behind him, "Trunks, are you okay, what's wrong?" Naruto tried asking his friend.

The demi-saiyan shook his head, "You wouldn't understand. Just...forget about it." He couldn't deny that Naruto had a bit of a hard time understanding... _complex_ things, and to try explaining his situation would only give the blonde a headache. That was, if the Uzumaki himself didn't think Trunks a lunatic.

An angry grunt escaped Naruto's mouth as he moved to walk ahead of Trunks, "You could at least give me a chance. Trust me, I'm not as stupid as most people think."

Trunks stopped walking. "I'm not from around here and I can't go home, get it?"

"Duh, I already knew that. I just saw you make a house pop out of a pill. And even then, that house had a bunch of futuristic crap that I would only see in a manga. So you might as well just spill it and tell the truth." Naruto ordered.

Trunks knew he was beat. Naruto _did_ just see the capsule house. He _did_ just see the inside of his capsule house. He braced himself for Naruto's outburst and insults to his sanity at this next one, "Fine, what if I told you that I'm not from this world? That I'm from another dimension. You believe that?"

.

.

.

Naruto's face hadn't changed, "...Yeah...I do."

XXXXX

A/N: And this is where we end this chapter. So, Bulma's awake and has been introduced to the elemental nations. I honestly had thoughts about making her wake up _literally_ as Trunks walked through the village gates, but I thought that would be waaayyy too coincidental. I also have one more filler chapter planned and then we will be at the beginning of the Chunin exams.

One last thing I want to mention is that I have a poll set up for you guys to vote on a pairing for Trunks. It's on my profile, so go ahead and take a look at it.

Catch you guys later!


	11. Kenjutsu Training

A/N: This chapter will introduce a bit of Naruto and Trunks kenjutsu training. I'll try to squeeze the majority of it in this chapter alone, that way we can start one of my favorite Naruto story arcs. Enjoy!

WARNING: I'm going to jam about a week's worth of training into one chapter. Expect it to feel a bit rushed.

XXX

It had been four days since Bulma awoke from the hospital and Trunks revealed the truth of his origins to Naruto. The saiyan made the Uzumaki swear up and down that he wouldn't tell anyone else. Naruto took offense to Trunks not trusting him, the Jinchuuriki saying, " _Hey I told you I wouldn't tell anyone, and I never go back on my word, that's my ninja way!"_ It wasn't like it was the Demi-saiyans fault for being cautious, he just couldn't have him and his mother's reputations destroyed.

Team 7 was completing their daily routine of lame D-rank missions, missions that included babysitting, painting fences, and sweeping up dog poo from the local parks. During the missions Naruto would always have some new question about Trunks' world, luckily the Uzumaki knew to whisper it so the others didn't bombard them with questions. He would ask questions along the lines of,

" _Did your world have giant spaceships?"_

" _Was everyone able to fly there?_

" _Did people have watches built into their brain so they could tell time without a watch?"_

" _How was the ramen in your world?"_

With the blonde being his friend, Trunks had no issue answering the innocent (yet ludicrous) questions. The swordsman just didn't want to imagine the amount of stress he would go through if Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi started interrogating him.

After picking up the last bit of waste from the playground, the team turned in their scoopers. Luckily for Kakashi, nothing in his job description said he had to do the lame tasks with his Genin, so he was aloud to kick back and read his Icha-Icha books in peace. "Alright team, that was our last mission for today. You're all dismissed." Sakura looked as if she was ready to leap and shout for joy, quickly following after Sasuke who was storming away from his team.

As Trunks and Naruto turned to leave Kakashi called after them, "Naruto, Trunks." The Jonin nodded his head the opposite direction, a sign that the two teenagers should follow him.

While leaving the park with the Jonin, Naruto asked, "Soooo what are we doing Kakashi?" Naruto asked his leader.

Not even turning his direction the Jonin answered, "Remember when we were on the boat during our trip to wave?" Trunks and Naruto nodded, "And do you remember when I said that I knew a couple of people that could help you with your kenjutsu skills?" A look of remembrance crossed both boys features before they smiled and nodded their heads. Kakashi eye smiled, "Good. We're about to meet them, right now."

The two boys looked to each other and grinned, this was gonna be awesome.

Eventually the trio made their way to the same training ground that they used for the bell test. When they got there, they saw two people, a man and a woman. The woman had straight, purple hair reaching down to her waist, warm brown eyes, and a shade of red lipstick. The man appeared to be rather sickly, with short brown hair protruding from his forehead protector that he wore as a bandana, dark brown eyes, and dark markings under his eyes. The two wore the standard shinobi outfit with a flak jacket and shinobi sandals.

"Naruto, Trunks, I would like to introduce you to Yugao Uzuki and Hayate Gekko. Konoha's kenjutsu specialists." Kakashi said, stepping to the sidelines.

"Sup." Naruto said with his arms folded, trying the 'too cool for school bad-boy' approach.

Trunks took the more polite route by giving a slight bow, "Hello, it's an honor to train with you today."

"Likewise." Hayate said with a slight bow. Yugao doing the same. Hayate turned to his lover, "I'll take the Uzumaki and teach him the fundamentals, you can take the Briefs boy since he already has a sword." The man tossed Naruto a ninjato that he kept holstered in his waist. Naruto, after catching the small sword, grinned like a madman making Kakashi and Trunks sweatdrop.

Hopefully Hayate had a lot of patience.

Hayate led the blonde to a space away from Yugao and Trunks so he can instruct in peace.

Yugao approached Trunks, "So, Trunks was it, let me see your blade." The Demi-saiyan did as he was told and slid the sword from the holster behind his back, handing it to the purple haired ANBU. The woman studied the blade, "Hm, a longsword with a black leather hilt and a metal bar as the handguard. Not bad. The edge is unbelievably sharp," She ran a finger along the edge of the metal, "I'd say you could slice through metal with this with just a bit of effort. Whoever crafted this sword was a master."

The fact that she was complimenting Tapions sword made the Demi-saiyan feel warm inside.

"Alright," Yugao handed the sword back to Tunks, "we're gonna have a little spar, just so I can know where your skill level is." She stood away from the Demi-saiyan and pulled out her own sword.

"W-Wait, you don't think that us sparring with actual swords is, I dunno, a _little_ bit dangerous?" Trunks said hesitantly.

"It's _just_ a sword spar. No ninjutsu, none of your ki techniques, this is just you and me clashing blades in an effort for me to see where you stand." Yugao took a fighting stance with her sword, "Trust me, I won't kill you."

Trunks nodded. He took a fighting stance as well, leveling his sword out in front of him at an angle. From his point of view the line of the blade split vertically down Yugao, showing a mirror image of the woman. Trunks squashed his power to as low as it would go. With a nod from the Anbu Trunks sprinted at her, swinging his blade in a horizontal arc that the woman effortlessly blocked, the clang of metal echoing from the collision.

The fact that the woman managed to block his blade so effortlessly surprised Trunks. Sure he wasn't putting any of his abnormal amounts of strength behind the swing, but he thought that he would have came in fast enough to catch the woman off guard. Frowning, Trunks hopped back and went in with a flurry of swings, the Anbu woman being more that capable of parrying and weaving them all.

The demi-saiyan swung his sword down in a vertical arc that Yugao lazily blocked, the woman then swup the blade out of his hand, letting it fall to the ground. The next thing the saiyan knew was he was lying on his ass after having his legs swept from under him and the tip of a sword pointing mere centimeters from his face.

"I guess it's safe to say that your skills... are rather poor." Yugao admitted, making Trunks sigh in disappointment. She sheathed her sword before picking up Trunks', "But that's what I'm here for." She said as took a knee and ran her fingers through his lavender hair, handing him his sword. "I'm gonna run you through a set of katas that'll help hone your form, because the main reason I laid you out the way I did, was because you had none." Trunks nodded and stood up, determined to improve his skills.

"Now, copy my form." Yugao stood next to Trunks and took the same kenjutsu stance that she held just moments ago, the demi-saiyan copying her, "Good. I'll do a move and you'll repeat it after me. Understand?"

"Yes sensei." Trunks nodded.

Hayate began instructing Naruto on the basic's of kendo. Giving tips on the proper stance to hold a sword, when to engage the enemy, and how to respect the blade. It was strange, because with any other period of teachings or lectures the advice would go through one ear and out the other with the Uzumaki, but when it came to training or learning new combat styles the blonde was all ears. That was just evidence of his worth as a shinobi.

"*Cough cough* Now, something that every *cough* kendoist must remember is ki, mind, ken, sword, tai, body, ichi, one. Mind, sword, and *cough* body are one." Hayate lectured.

'This guy really needs a cough drop.' Naruto grimaced.

Hayate continued, "The most important way for you *cough* to utilize this mindset is by staying calm and relaxed… which I assume is not your strong suit." Naruto deadpanned. "I'm just being honest." A small smirk flashed on the man's face. "What I want you to do now, is to meditate."

"What? That's lame! I wanna slice stuff, how's meditating gonna help me do that?" The blonde groaned.

"*cough* Remember what I said about a swordsman needing to utilize not just body, but _mind_ as well? The fact that you're very unruly and wild means that your technique will be just that. And a swordsman with *cough* discipline in his style will always trump you."

Naruto sighed. It made enough sense to him, even though he didn't like it. He sat down on the grass and folded his legs. Luckily the academy taught him how to meditate so he did just that.

By the time the day was over Trunks had managed to pick up on a few basic katas and sword fighting forms and Naruto managed to grasp just the basics of kenjutsu mechanics, although he did catch on faster than expected and learned a lot. Both boys managed to take home with them a considerable amount of knowledge for a first day tutor session.

A star filled night sky made the walk back home for Trunks Brief ever the more tranquil. Most people would have found walking through the woods at night to be rather...haunting. But the saiyan found the hissing of cicadas and shifting of the tree leaves from the wind to be pretty soothing.

The capsule house that he had come to call his home still had lights on, as shown from the luminosity coming through the windows. As he came through the automatic door he could hear dishes shifting around in the kitchen.

"Well look who decided to come back home at _11'oclock_ at night!" Bulma called in a mock serious tone, making Trunks smile. The saiyan walked into the kitchen to see his mom taking out the dishes from their rather large dishwasher, custom built to hold the immense amount of dishes that the teenager would accumulate from his extreme appetite. The fact that Naruto came over for dinner one night didn't help matters either. The Briefs woman didn't seem to have an issue with it. She was just glad to be able to cook something that wasn't rations again. Not to mention she could finally walk on her own.

"Nice to see you too mom." Trunks said as he kicked off his shoes into a spot on the floor. He then took seat on one of the bar stools that were against the small bar shelf that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"You know it's not like your sensei, jonin, whatever to send you home this late. Any reason why?" Bulma asked, her voice dripping with suspicion.

"Nothing really. Just had to stay after with Naruto for a training exercise." Trunks said innocently.

Bulma paused, " _Suuurree_ ," She said in a sardonic tone, "And there wouldn't happen to be any _girls_ at this particular training session? Were there?"

Trunks cheeks turned red, "N-No. Besides, what would be the big deal if there was?"

"I'm just teasing you kid. The reason I'm asking is because I wanna know if you have a girlfriend...well, do you?"

Trunks' face turned even redder, "No I don't." He huffed, "It's not like I really want one right now anyways."

"Why not? You're a handsome guy so I know you get approached by a lot of them."

The demi-saiyan couldn't deny that, alot of girls in the village had a habit of approaching him when he was alone. It was only when he was around Sasuke that the attention was directed away from him. But then, it's not like he ever had the chance to have a girlfriend back home. "Still, dating someone's the last thing on my mind right now."

Bulma sighed, "If you say so son, but eventually you're gonna want one. You've been here long enough that I'm sure you've found one to be _sort of_ cute."

Trunks mind went back to that blonde girl at the flower shop. She was really nice to him and he couldn't deny that she was...interesting to look at. But he didn't think he had any true feelings for her after just one encounter.

"Anyways," Bulma put away the last of the dishes, closing the dishwasher door, "I'm going to bed. Before you come back home tomorrow pick up some tea. Night." The blue-haired woman went to her room and the saiyan went to his. He did make sure to shower before crawling in bed.

XXX

The four days of training that followed consisted of the two friends practicing katas and enhancing their technique. Nothing special.

The fifth day, on the other hand…

"Alright Naruto, Trunks, I've given you both enough time to improve your kendo." Yugao said to the two boys standing in front of her, "Now it's time to see just how much you've both have improved." She unsheathed her sword as Trunks and Naruto did the same. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, if you show me that your skills have gotten better, then tomorrow we'll take the opportunity to show you both a few tricks that not too many swordsman know, clear?"

"Yes sensei." Naruto and Trunks said in unison.

Hayate stood on the sidelines. He offered to take the position of sparring against the two genin but Yugao insisted. It didn't really make a difference to the sickly man, their skills were still amateur compared to his lovers. Still, if one of them could so much as knick her clothes then it'll mean that they came far in the few days they've been training. Even though they did train for four straight hours each day.

"Strike when ready!" Yugao ordered.

The genin friends sprinted in with their blades drawn, the speed which they were moving making their bodies move in blurs. Trunks leapt into the air and came down with his blade in an arc. The anbu managed to block the strike just as she felt a presence appear behind her.

A swift back kick managed to knock Naruto away.

The fact that she managed to hold Trunks at bay while still striking Naruto showed the amount of skill she had.

Both teens began moving in blurs trying to get at least a cut on the Anbu. Yugao being more than capable of holding them off.

Trunks and Naruto eventually got knocked back at the same time. Side by side the two stood, swords at the ready to engage their opponent.

"Damn, there's no way we're going to hit her. She's just way out of our league?" Naruto huffed.

"What!? You're not complaining during a fight are you? That's not the Naruto I know." Trunks said in mock shock with a small smirk on his face.

"*pfft* You know who you're talking to? I'm not complaining, we just need another way to come at her."

Trunks smirked, "I think we should bend the rules a little. Maybe give ourselves a _numbered_ advantage?"

"You mean cheat?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know if I like using that word, but hey, I fight to win."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Naruto smirked before he crossed his fingers, " **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** six grinning shadow clones appeared lining up next to Naruto, all armed with swords.

Yugao raised an eyebrow, 'I thought I said no jutsu allowed?'

With a battlecry the clones charged at the Anbu, their blades drawn to attack. The fact that she was outnumbered and had enemy's coming from all around made the Anbu have to put in a lot more effort to defend herself.

'Interesting, they've decided to give themselves a tactical advantage with numbers.' Hayate noted. He also saw that the two genin were waiting for something, perhaps the right moment to attack?

"NOW!" Trunks shouted as Yugao reduced the onslaught of clones down to its last two.

The demi-saiyan and the jinchuuriki once again rushed at the purple haired woman in a blur. The instant she sliced down the last two bunshin she felt a presence in front and behind her. Not having the chance to defend herself properly a blur managed to slice the fabric in the back of her jacket and another blur sliced the fabric in the front of her jacket.

Trunks and Naruto fazed in, sheathing their swords.

Yugao smiled before sheathing her own sword, "You both actually managed to make a cut on me. Congratulations. That shows you've both grown considerably since your first session."

The two genin bumped fists. They knew they could do it. Now, what tricks did Hayate and Yugao know that would be useful to them?

The next day Naruto and Trunks stood before Hayate and Yugao.

It was decided that the jonin would work with Naruto first, "Alright Naruto, we've decided to introduce you to a new sword based ninjutsu." Yugao said, making Naruto grow more excited. Hayate held out his sword so that Naruto could see clearly what he was about to do.

A visible blue flame of chakra enveloped the metal and grew sharper, materializing until it was in the shape of a blade that was longer than the sword itself.

"Whoa…" Trunks and Naruto said in awe.

Hayate let the tip of the chakra enhanced blade touch the ground, it sinking right through like a hot knife in butter. "We call this the Flying Swallow, it's a technique that allows your sword to cut through almost anything with little effort. The mechanics of this technique is rather simple, *cough* just surge your chakra through your blade until it becomes dense enough to be visible. And seeing as you have an abnormally high level of chakra, you're one of the few genin who could pull of this technique, Naruto." Hayate said. "Also judging by the amount of chakra control that you have, *cough*, you can increase the length of the blade." Hayate let the chakra blades length grow just a few more inches.

The sickly man approached a large round boulder sticking out of the ground, and with a quick swing of his sword, leveled the top of it. He picked up the cleanly cut off piece of the rock that landed on the ground a few feet away, and held it up to the genin so they could get a good look at what the technique was capable of.

Naruto grew almost as giddy as a schoolgirl over a boyband. The blonde removed his blade and immediately started pouring his chakra into it. Now he was grateful for Kakashi teaching him tree climbing, because that gave him just the chakra control he needed to pull off the technique.

With wide eyes Naruto watched as his ninjato grew out lined in a blue chakra flame, the flame condensing until it was just as thin as his own sword, but double in length and even pointier at the tip. The blondes eyes sparkled as he drooled fell from his mouth in awe.

Yugao couldn't help but smile at the blondes reaction. She turned to Trunks," I also want to experiment with a new technique for you. The only thing is, since you can't use chakra, there's no absolute way for me to know how successful this will be."

"I'll appreciate your effort either way." Trunks said.

Yugao cleared her throat before speaking, "From what I know of your ki attacks, your abled to infuse it with another objects. Try it with your sword like Naruto did."

Trunks held up Tapion's sword and began transferring his ki into it. A blue-yellow flame surrounded the sword but the Demi-saiyan found himself unable to condense it into a 'Ki blade', like Naruto could with his 'Chakra blade'. For him, all it was, was a sword outlined with his life force.

"So its just as I thought. But then again I always believed ki needed to have kinetic force acting on it for you to utilize it's abilities." Yugao said. She looked out at a lone tree that was a fair distance away. All of it's leaves were gone and the bark was dead so it was really an eyesore. No one would miss it. She nodded towards it, "Charge your sword with your chakra again." Once again the demi-saiyans sword was outlined in his ki, "Now, swing it in the direction of that tree."

The saiyan had an idea of where she was going with this. He drew his sword to the side and slashed the air, sending a thin wave of ki out of the metal that shot out at the tree and chopped it down, leaving a smooth and flat stump sticking out of the dirt.

An accomplished grin split the saiyans mouth. He just learned a new technique.

"Whoa Trunks, that was awesome!" Naruto congratulated the saiyan, having watched him perform the move.

"Thanks dude, but yours is really cool too!" Trunks said back.

"Think you can do it again?" Naruto asked, eager to watch the display again.

Yugao smirked to her lover at her own accomplishment. She just managed to teach somebody a new technique, with a power source she couldn't even use herself!

Trunks took another stance. He trained his focus out on the lush forest that the training ground was surrounded by. He swung his blade numerous times in a rapid motion, sending out blue blades of ki that sliced through trees and sent them crashing to the ground.

The four could hear the sound of some trees falling in the distance, meaning that the attack was capable of traveling a great distance before dispersing.

"Hm, well it looks like you *cough* both have something unique to take away from this training." Hayate pointed out. Naruto had a sword that he could make slice through virtually anything, and Trunks had a new ki attack that could level a forest.

Both boys smirked to each other, "Oh yeah."

XXXX

A/N: I know, I know, the ending to this chapter sucks. But like I said this chapter was going to be a training based romp.

The Chunin exams begin next chapter.

Oh, and the move that Trunks learned is an actual attack from the show.

 _ **Glossary:**_

 **Flying Swallow** **-** A ninjutsu that augments the killing power of a blade (like a kunai or sword) by flowing chakra into it. The materialised chakra is shaped like a blade, cutting up everything it touches. It is also possible to alter the attack range of the weapon by adjusting the amount of chakra put into the blade. Seeing through the movements is said to be very difficult. The density of the chakra is so high it becomes visible. The chakra-enhanced blades are strong and sharp enough to cut through solid rock and iron. The technique works best with elemental chakra, especially with wind-natured chakra which greatly increases the offensive cutting power… which makes this technique perfect for Naruto.

 **Lightning Sword Slash** **-** Trunks swings his sword rapidly, sending several blades of energy toward the opponent, inflicting a massive amount of damage.


	12. Exams

A/N: The Chunin Exams begin this chapter!

XXXXX

A meeting was being held in the hokage's office. Every leading Jonin was called in to discuss… a rather important event that would be taking place in the village after the next few days.

Hiruzen sat at his desk, crystal ball placed in the center of it. Every Jonin in the village stood in front of the fire shadow. "As you can tell, I have summoned you all here for a very important purpose. I assume you all know what this is about?" The Hokage stated more than asked.

"So soon? I thought we'd have a little more time." Kakashi said, more to himself than anyone else.

Asuma pulled the cigarette from his mouth before he spoke, "I take it all the other lands have been notified as well. I've seen some of their genin have been roaming the village."

"And? When do we start?" Kurenai asked.

Hiruzen blew a trail of smoke from his mouth, "Take heed, exactly 7 days from today, on the first day of July, the Genin will be gathered and tested. Only the very best will be selected as Chunin." Every Jonin nodded as a response. "Now, it is time we chose our candidates for the Chunin examination. Will the three responsible for the rookie Genin please step forward." Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi all stepped forward at the same time. "What do you say? Are there any in your squads that you recommend, despite their inexperience? As you know, any Genin that has carried out 8 or more missions is _technically_ eligible for these examinations. Beyond that, only you can decide when they are ready. Of course, most Genin require a longer training period, at least twice that many." The man's eyes trailed to Kakashi to start, "What do you say?"

"I lead squad 7; Uchiha Sasuke, Brief Trunks, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. I, Kakashi Hatake recommend these three for the Chunin selection examinations."

Iruka's eyes widened in shock. How could Kakashi recommend his team with that kind of inexperience like that? He hoped that Kurenai and Asuma weren't planning the same thing.

"I lead squad 8; Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata. I, Kurenai Yuhi recommend all three."

"I lead squad 10, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru. I, Asuma Sarutobi recommend my Genin as well."

Iruka had enough, "Now wait a minute!" He stepped forward, "Lord Hokage, with all due respect, the nine out of ten names listed were all my students for _years._ I know their skills better than anyone. They need more experience before they are tested. If they try now they are doomed to fail."

"I became a Chunin at the age of 6." Kakashi said matter of factly. "I was actually 7 years younger than Naruto is now."

"Naruto is nothing like you!" Iruka barked. He stepped forward, "Are you trying to destroy him?"

"No, but he's always complaining about not being challenged enough. Maybe wiping out on the exams will teach him a lesson. A little pain is good."

"Wh-What did you say?" Iruka said in disbelief.

"It's not like I meant anything fatal of course. But seriously Iruka, relax. I know how you feel, this is very personal for you and it upsets you but-"

"Alright Kakashi, back off. You've said enough." Kurenai said.

"On the contrary Kurenai. I think Iruka needs to hear this. He needs to realize they're not his students anymore. They're _mine_."

Kurenai sighed in defeat. Kakashi had a point. Iruka obviously knew that as he was brought speechless, the only thing him being able to do was grit his teeth in anger.

Hiruzen sighed, "You have both made your point. Accordingly I have decided that the best thing to do is hold a preliminary test."

"P-Preliminary test?" said Iruka.

XXXXX

Team 7 was waiting impatiently on a small bridge built upon a stream. Sasuke leaned against the orange railing while Trunks was doing one armed push ups. Naruto and Sakura paced back and forth, only growing angrier as time went by.

"Aaaahhhh!" Sakura screeched, "Why is he always setting times and we have to wait hours for it!?"

"It's not fair!" Naruto declared.

"What about my feelings, I didn't even have time to blow dry my hair this morning!" Sakura shot at Naruto.

"And I didn't even have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto shot back.

Sakura's eyes widened, "You didn't? That's...that's pretty gross naruto."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, 'It's this early in the morning and they're already driving me nuts.' He groaned in his head. The Uchiha's eyes grew trained on Naruto's ninjato that was holstered at his waist. His eyes narrowed. Why did Naruto have a sword? When did he even learn to use one?

Trunks wasn't paying attention to any of them. His blue track jacket was cast aside, hanging on the rail of the bridge, his black T-shirt soaked in sweat as he reached his 400th push up.

Footsteps brought everyone's attention to the end of the bridge, "Hi guys!" Kakashi's said with an eye smile, "Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road to life."

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura roared, making the Jonin wiggle his ear in discomfort.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended the four of you for the Chunin Exams." He passed forward four slips of paper, "Here are the application forms."

Naruto' shouted and hugged Kakashi, "Alriiiight! Kakashi-sensei you rock!" Much to the dismay of his Jonin.

Kakashi dusted his jacket, hoping Naruto didn't slobber on it. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy five days from now. The time is at 3 p.m."

Trunks put his jacket back on as he was handed the applicant sheet. 'Chunin Exams?'

Naruto was singing to himself, "Chunin, Chunin, I'm gonna be a Chunin."

XXXXXX

Kakashi wound up back in the Hokage's office, receiving a summons. This time the office was empty, all of the Jonin having cleared out.

Hiruzen got straight to the point, "Kakashi, I notice we still have have yet to discuss Trunks-kun's little, transformation."

The Hatake hadn't forgot, "So do I. He and Naruto have been so busy with training the last few weeks that I suppose that's been my least priority."

The Hokage nodded, "I would still like to have a peek at it. Just so I know what the boy is capable of."

Kakashi gave a bow, "Yes Hokage-sama. I will fetch him at once."

XXXXXX

After getting dissed by Sasuke for the 50th time, Sakura decided to stick around with Trunks and Naruto, knowing that Trunks wouldn't blow her off _and_ deciding that putting up with Naruto's antics was worth it. The fact that she didn't feel that she was cut out for the Chunin exams while everyone else on her team was, put her in a blue mood. The three were walking down an alleyway.

"You ok Sakura?" Trunks asked. Naruto was too high on life and staring into the Chunin application form to notice, having read over the slip for the 100th time.

"It's nothing." Sakura said with a weak smile, not doing a good job at all to show that she was down.

The Demi-saiyan knew he couldn't get the pinkette to talk if she didn't want to, so he just shrugged it off. Trunks and Naruto turned to the sound of shuffling coming from behind them.

What they saw was a square...rock?

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You think I'm stupid? There's no such thing as square rock's, your disguise is totally obvious."

" _You saw through my camouflage again, you're good boss."_ The box erupted in white smoke, revealing three knee high kids. "Just as I expect from my greatest rival!" The kid who spoke being a young boy with short spiky brown hair and black eyes. He also had a small chip in his tooth. His clothing was of a yellow shirt with the Konoha symbol in red, grey shorts, and a long blue scarf. His two friends was of a boy with glasses and a runny nose, and a girl with orange hair tied in two very large pig tails and blushing cheeks.

"Uh, Naruto, what's going on?" Trunks asked his friend.

The Uzumaki pointed to the kid in the middle, "That's just Konohamaru, the other two..." He trailed off, not having a clue as to who the other kids were.

"My names Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in preschool!" The girl struck a pose.

"My names Udon, the smartest shinobi in preschool!" The other boy struck a pose.

"And the three of us together are the Konohamaru squad!" Konohamaru and his friend struck poses.

Naruto just folded his arms behind his head and stared at them, unimpressed to say the least. "Sure."

Konohamaru growled at Naruto's cold attitude. He then saw Trunks, "Who're you?" He pointed at the saiyan accusingly, having not seen him before.

"My name's Trunks. Nice to meet you, I guess." Trunks said awkwardly, having been put on the spot by an 8 year old. The kids then noticed Trunks longsword and Naruto's ninjato. "Whoa! When did you get a sword boss?!" Konohamaru asked as he reached for the Uzumaki's blade.

Feeling a lot cooler all of a sudden, Naruto smirked and pulled the sword from his waist, "I got some super special training over the last few weeks. Courtesy of Kakashi-sensei." He held up the sword so the kids could get a good look at it, their mouths drooling in awe.

"You guys should play ninja with us!" Udon said in anticipation.

"Ooh! I call being on Trunks team!" Moegi squealed as she ran over by the demi-saiyan.

Naruto held up his hands, "Wait a minute, hold on. We've got training to take care of, we can't just goof around."

"But you promised you would play ninja with us! You've been blowing us off every time I asked!" Konohamaru leveled an accusing finger at the Uzumaki.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head, 'Oh yeah. I have been promising I would play with them. But still, if I say yes these kids will start bugging me all day.'

"Hmph, a ninja playing ninja? That's so twisted." Sakura said bitterly as she dragged herself next to Trunks.

Konohamaru looked back and forth between Sakura and Naruto. "Hey boss, is that you're girlfriend?"

Trunks eyes widened. This was gonna get really ugly, really fast. The killing intent that began to slowly leak out of Sakura only confirmed this.

Naruto gave a shit eating grin, "Well, what can I say, you can tell she's crazy about me." He nudged Trunks, "Right?"

"Please leave me out this please leave me out this please leave me out this!" Trunks begged. He looked at Sakura with his peripheral vision. If she was a saiyan, her hair would turn gold.

Konohamaru also grinned, "I see how it is, you're one smooth operator boss. I would have never guessed it."

Killing intent increased.

Naruto crossed his arms, "Yeah she's been in love with me ever since our days at the Academy."

'Oh God! Somebody help me!' Trunks yelled in his head.

"*psst*"

Trunks looked up to see Kakashi was in a tree, signaling for his attention. Sakura noticed this too, "Trunks, I would hurry if I were you." She growled with a demonic smirk plastered on her face.

Trunks fazed out, startling Naruto and the kids. "Hey Trunks, where'd you go?" Naruto asked, searching around. His blood ran cold as he heard the sound of knuckles cracking.

"You're mine now, _Naruto._ " Sakura said with an evil smirk as she closed in the blonde. Konohamaru and his friends backed away fearfully.

"Mommy." Naruto squeaked with wide eyes.

XXXXXXX

"Whew, thanks for the save back there Kakashi." Trunks thanked the Jonin as they walked through the halls of the Hokage building.

"No big deal." The Jonin waved him off. "Sakura's one of two women in this village whose wrath I would not wanna witness." He shuddered at the thought of Anko. That woman may have been fun to be around, but boy, she could be downright _insane_ and psychotic when she wanted to be.

The two walked into the Hokage's office.

"Trunks, it's nice to see you!" Hiruzen said with a grandfatherly like tone.

Trunks gave a bow, "It's nice to see you too Hokage-sama. What were you needing?" He was hoping he didn't sound rude.

"I was hoping I could see this transformation of yours. The report I was given tells me that it's quite the spectacle."

The saiyan knew this would come sooner or later. Trunks scratched the back of his head, "I could _try_ to, but the thing is I haven't mastered it. It still takes me a moment to power up and transform."

Hiruzen took a pull on his pipe and grinned, "Just try it."

Trunks sighed before closing his eyes. He crossed his arms and squatted, going still.

Nothing happened for the next several seconds, making the Hokage begin to question the Hatake's report, but then the objects on his desk began to rattle, and then every object in his room began to shake. The air grew warm as a popping noise resonated from the teenager before a burst of gold light flashed from his body, making the elderly man and Kakashi shield their eyes.

What Hiruzen saw in Trunks place was a being with spiked gold hair and emerald eyes. A fiery aura hugged the boys body that chirped with each roll of the flame-like aura.

The pipe almost fell out of Hiruzen's mouth. He could almost _taste_ the power the newcomer beheld. It was easily worthy of a bijuu.

"Would you mind showing me a demonstration?" The Third asked. He had to have just a glimpse at what the boy was capable of.

Without a word, Trunks held out his fingers, and gave a slight wave.

A gust of wind swept through the office and knocked the things off Hiruzen's desk, it actually nearly knocked off the Hokage's haori.

"That good enough?" Trunks's now gravelly voice asked.

The Third grinned, "It's splendid. I take it you gain quite a boost to your power with this, _super saiyan_ form of yours." The word saiyan was so unfamiliar it felt awkward saying it.

"It boosts my power by 5000%," Trunks let the transformation drop, letting his features revert to normal, "At least, that's what my master told me."

"Well I for one can't wait to see it in action. You will be taking the exams correct?"

Trunks nodded, "Yes sir, I can't wait."

"Neither can I. You're free to go now Trunks." The Hokage dismissed the saiyan who left out the door. Hiruzen took a puff on his pipe.

"So, think we should be worried." The Hatake asked the Hokage.

"For what purpose should we be? He has proven himself to have a good heart and his power is within our jurisdiction." Hiruzen let out a puff of smoke.

"I'm not worried about us... I'm worried about the unlucky examinees that'll have to face him."

Xxxxxxx

When the demi-saiyan exited the building he was overcome with a dreadful feeling. The feeling that something bad was about to happen. He searched for Naruto's Ki and could sense a particularly hostile one around around him.

"Damn!" Trunks cursed before he fazed out.

XXXXXXX

"Put him down!" Naruto shouted at a teenager wearing a black baggy body suit with a hood and face paint.

Said boy was holding Konohamaru off the ground by the scruff of his scarf, while Udon, Moegi, and Sakura looked on in worry.

"Just put him down Kankuro or you're gonna get in trouble." A teenage girl with blonde hair tied in four pigtails warned. She had green eyes and a large fan attached to her back.

"Relax Temari, I'm just having a little fun before he get's here." Kankuro said with a grin before tightening his grip on Konohamaru, making the boy wheeze in pain. The action made Naruto growl in anger.

The Uzumaki pulled out his ninjato, "That's it, drop him now or I'll take you apart! You got that bastard!?"

Kankuro grinned, "Ooh, scary." He said mockingly, "I think I wanna see you try." He pulled back his fist and aimed it at Konohamaru's face.

However before he could do anything a ki blast flew in his face, making the Suna teen cry out and drop Konohamaru.

"You know, there are three types of people I don't like. Assholes, bullies, and anyone who mistreats kids." Trunks gently touched down, landing on the soles of his feet. "Somehow you managed to make up all three of those."

"Trunks-kun!" Sakura and Moegi squealed with hearts in their eyes.

Temari blushed, 'Well well local hottie.'

"Naruto you move too slow. I could've got beat up and it would've been all your fault!" Konohamaru shouted angrily.

"Hey come on now, I was just building up a dramatic rescue, that's all." Naruto said with a fake smile, hoping he could win back the few members of his fan club that he had at the moment. "What the heck Trunks, you just stole my thunder!" Naruto barked.

The saiyan ignored him, watching as Kankuro angrily rubbed his face to make sure it wasn't burned or scarred.

The Suna nin said angrily, "Yeah, well you're the kind of pesky snot I hate the most, all attitude and nothing to back it up."

Trunks drew his own sword, "You wanna fight me? Your funeral."

Kankuro smirked before pulling forth a bandaged apparatus from behind his back.

"Kankuro, you're seriously going to use the Crow for this?!" Temari asked in alarm, feeling her brother was taking this too far.

"This runt just pissed me off. I'm gonna make him- AAAUGHH!" A rock thrown with pinpoint accuracy shot into Kankuro's hand as he began unravelling the instrument. The Suna-nin rubbed his hand in an attempt to make it feel better.

All eyes went to Sasuke, who sat upon a tree branch bouncing a rock in his hand. "You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league." The Uchiha crushed the rock into dust, "Get lost."

Kankuro's face was red from embarrassment and anger. He just got shown up twice! He was gonna-

"You're a disgrace to our village Kankuro." A voice said a few feet from Sasuke, sending a chill down the Uchiha's spine.

When everyone looked at the voice they saw a boy with dark circles around his eyes, red hair, and a kanji on his forehead standing upside down on a tree branch. He also carried a large gourd on his back. By just looking at him you could tell he didn't get much sleep.

"Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic." He continued, Why do you think we came here in the first place?"

"B-But, G-Garra, th-they started it." Kankuro stuttered, he and his sisters eyes showing obvious fear.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." The redhead ordered, surprising everyone that he could treat his own teammates like that.

'To sneak up on me like that... that's Kakashi level stealth.' Sasuke thought.

'I couldn't even sense him.' Trunks thought.

The sand Genin disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared in front of his teammates, "My apologies for the trouble he caused." Gaara's eyes traveled between Trunks and Sasuke, 'What Jutsu did he use to hit Kankuro with? And that other guy managed to stop Kankuro with just a pebble. They're both people I need to keep an eye on.' Gaara turned around, "Let's go."

"Wait." Sasuke jumped down from his position on the tree, "I'm assuming you're here for the Chunin exams?"

Gaara nodded, "Yes. I take it you all will be competing as well?"

Sasuke, Naruto, and Trunks nodded.

"So what's your name?" Trunks asked.

"You mean me?" Temari asked with hearts in her eyes.

"N-No, I mean the one with the gourd." Trunks said with a blush.

"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara said, "You guys?"

"Trunks Briefs."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Gaara glared at Naruto "I didn't ask for yours." Before he turned on his heel and walked away with his siblings.

"We're gonna have to watch out for that guy." Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes.

Trunks nodded, "I agree. Something about him's...off."

"Yeah, did you see the way he threatened his own teammates?" Naruto pointed out.

"It's not even just that. All three of their life forces felt similar, so I'm willing to bet they were siblings." Trunks said, the realization making the situation that much darker.

"I-I think we should stay away from them. They seem really dangerous." Sakura said fearfully.

A smirk crossed Sasuke's lips, "Yeah right, I think I wanna see just what they're capable of."

Similar smirks made their way to Naruto and Trunks features. Trunks' smirk looked very similar to his father's.

'Oh brother.' Sakura grimaced. Something told her these upcoming exams were going to be a bumpy ride.

XXXXXX

It was now the day of the exams and Team 7 made to meet in front of the academy doors. Trunks managed to tell his mom that he would be gone for the next few days, not that she hadn't gotten used to the saiyan leaving for missions. The team walked down the hallway, Trunks and Naruto discussing what they did to prepare while Sasuke decided to keep that business to himself. Sakura didn't have much of anything to say, still wondering why she was sticking around when she would just hold her teammates back.

The four went up a set of stairs to enter a hall that was cluttered with people. Everyone appeared to be gathered around a room with the sign '301' above the door, with two Chunin barring the way. Trunks had no idea what was going on.

"Wait," the Demi-saiyan whispered to his team, "I thought we only went up one floor?"

Sasuke nodded, "We did. These guys are using a genjutsu and everyone in this room walked right into it."

Trunks nodded. He knew that most genjutsu couldn't affect him, and since this was the most basic one, he saw that the room said '201' instead of '301'.

"We still need to go through that door don't we?" Sakura asked.

"Yup. Let's break the charade." Sasuke said as he and his team moved through the crowd.

After exposing the Chunin and having a small run in with Gai's team (a run in that resulted in Lee challenging Sasuke and the Uchiha getting his ass handed to him), Team 7 reached a hallway that led to a set of double doors. Upon entering, they saw Kakashi waiting for them, Icha Icha book in hand and leaning against the wall.

"Nice to see all four of you showed up." The Jonin said, "Good thing too, because only a three man team is required, one of you could have stayed at home."

Although Sakura was smiling on the outside, she was screaming and cursing on the inside.

Kakashi gave an eye smile, "Anyways, that doesn't matter. The four of you are here and I'm proud of that. I wish you all luck."

With grins and smiles, the Genin of team 7 opened the door wide, ready to confront whatever was on the other side.

XXXXX

A/N: And here we end this chapter! And we officially begin the chunin exams. It's funny, because it took me a few years to start the Chunin exams for Hybrid of the Hidden Leaf while it only took me a couple of months to start it in this fic. I guess that just shows how much more dedicated I am to this story.

Now, it's time for me to reveal the winner of the poll:

Tayuya: 4 votes

Temari: 8 votes

Shizuka: 10 votes

Ino: 13 votes!

Looks like Ino is our lucky winner for Trunks's pairing. So, looks like the pairings for this fic are NaruHina and TrunksxIno.

Tell me your thoughts on that, and what you thought about the chapter in a review. Thanks!


	13. Tested

A/N: I have gotten some complaints on the pairing aspects of the fic. Now, I just wanna make clear that romance isn't going to be the driving force of this story. Just because there's pairings doesn't mean I'm going to make this story revolve around just that. NaruHina may not really develop until Shippuden and neither will TrunksxIno. I just felt that you guys should know what I have planned in terms of some characters interaction.

XXXXX

The Genin of Team 7 had no idea what they would find on the other side of that door. What they did see, wasn't something they were thrilled about. Inside the room there was what easily amounted to a hundred shinobi at _least_. Every single one of them were glaring at Kakashi's team.

The son of Vegeta could sense several foul feeling ki's scattered throughout the room. Only confirming that these exams were going to be a pain. One particular ki was so foul, so _monstrous_ that the demi-saiyan found himself feeling… scared. He scanned the room with his senses, tracing the source of the energy coming from none other than Gaara. The red haired teen standing with his siblings.

What was Gaara's issue? Sure he never struck Trunks as the most mentally stable, but for his energy to come off as feeling so ghastly, especially compared to anyone else in the room, it was enough to send a chill down the saiyans spine.

Gaara's leaf green eyes slowly skimmed over to catch Trunks's ocean blue ones glaring at him. The saiyans heart began pounding, making him anxious for some reason. Gaaras eyes narrowed, making Trunks clench his fists. He felt the urge to fight, but he wasn't being attacked or even threatened (In a noticeable way). The only conclusion could be the amount of killer intent Gaara was letting out.

"Trunks-Kun!" A high pitched squeal broke the tension. Two arms latched themselves around Trunks neck, catching the son of Vegeta by surprise. "Where've you been Trunks I haven't seen you in forever!" Ino squealed.

Blushing furiously at the attention, and having a girl groping him, Trunks said with a forced smile, "Oh, hi Ino." while silently thinking, 'Someone help me!'

Sasuke was silently smirking, knowing that someone will finally know the torture he goes through every single day. 'Yes! Yes! Know my pain...know my suffering.'

Sakura growled with a red face, "Ino-pig, let go of Trunks. You're scaring him."

Ino smiled at Sakura, still keeping her hold on Trunks, "Oh, hey, Forehead. I'm surprised they let a loser like you in." Sakura looked as if she would spring forth and strangle Ino, but the blonde was confident that Trunks wouldn't let the pinkette near her. That only prompted Ino to smile wider and tighten her grip on the saiyans neck.

"Oh great, it's you guys." A familiar irritated voice drawled. Shikamaru and Choji approached Team Kakashi, "I knew these exams were gonna be a drag, but now I gotta put up with these scumbags?" The slacker groaned. Choji was munching on a bag of chips like usual.

Naruto scoffed, "So all three stooges are here."

Shikamaru barked, "You know what pipsqueak! Ah, forget it, you're a waste of time."

A new set of footsteps approached. "Well well, looks like the old gang's back together again." Kiba said, Shino and Hinata tagging along behind him.

"H-Hi Naruto." Hinata said with a small smile.

"Hi Hinata." Naruto said casually, making the shy girl blush furiously at knowing that she was acknowledged.

Shikamaru wasn't anymore glad to see Team 8 than he was Team 7, to say the least. "So you guys made it too." He sighed.

The Inuzuka nodded, "Yup. And from the looks of things, so did everyone else. I guess all 10 rookies are gonna be competing. At least, those of us good enough to make the cut." Kiba's eyes went to Sasuke. He purposely avoided Trunks, still a little sore at his embarrassing defeat at the saiyan on his first day at the Academy.

Sasuke smirked at his once rival, "Heh, careful you don't get overconfident. That usually doesn't end well for you. (Like Sasuke could talk)"

Kiba gloated, "Ha, things are gonna be way different now. We've been training like crazy."

"What do you think we've been doing, sitting on our asses? I bet you bozo's don't know what real training means!" Naruto snapped.

"Y-You shouldn't listen to Kiba Naruto-kun. I'm sure he d-didn't mean anything by it." Hinata timidly said, hoping to Kami that Naruto wouldn't get mad at her over what Kiba said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Hinata, wondering why she would always get so nervous whenever the Uzumaki so much as looked at her.

The Uzumaki was tempted to ask her what her deal was, but was stopped by yet another new voice.

"You guys might wanna keep it down a little. You're in a room full of nervous Genin and I'm sure a few of'em wouldn't mind thinning out the competition." The speaker was a young man with silver hair reminiscent of Kakashi's, pulled back in a tight ponytail, with round glasses sitting on his face.

Just as he said, when the rookie ten got a look at the other candidates, every single one of them were glaring at them with bloodlusted looks on their faces.

Naruto grunted before shouting out, "You idiots don't intimidate me! You watch, I'll pulverise every single one of-" A hard fist met the back of his head, making him yelp in pain.

"Naruto you jackass, what are you trying to get us killed!?" Sakura yelled as she began manhandling him.

Trunks managed to shrug Ino off of him before turning to the new arrival, "Who are you anyways? If you don't mind me asking."

"My name's Kabuto Yakushi. But I wouldn't be so worried about me as I would be about the other genin in this room." Kabuto said, "Those guys are from the hidden rain and they're known to have short tempers. If anything, I'd watch my back around them especially."

Although Trunks nodded, he didn't take Kabuto's words to heart. In fact, something about the teenager felt off. He was _way_ too strong to be considered a genin. He couldn't even be a Chunin. His power was at least at the level of Kakashi's, who was stronger than the average Jonin.

"So, Kabuto was it. You seem to know a lot about these exams. Is this your second time taking them?" Sakura asked.

Kabuto scratched his head bashfully, "Well actually, no. This is my seventh. The exams are held twice a year and this is my fourth year."

"Wow you must suck." Shikamaru said. Although nobody else would admit it, they thought failing something six times was pretty pathetic.

Kabuto let out a nervous laugh before pulling a deck of cards from a pouch, "You could say that, but it's not like I've been wasting my time these last few years." He held out the cards so that the rookie 10 could get a good look at them.

"What the heck are those?" Ino asked.

"These are my ninja-info cards. They've been chakra encoded to hold all of the information I've picked up over the years." Kabuto kneeled down and sat his stack of cards on the floor. With a smirk, Kabuto took a card and laid it flat on the floor and lightly spun it, "I have information on just about every genin in this room."

This caught Sasuke's attention, "Oh yeah? Prove it." He kneeled down to get a better look, everyone else gathering around to see for themselves.

Kabuto flipped the card over, showing a blank panel. "It may not look like much at first, but that's because I don't want just anyone looking at this stuff." He looked at Sasuke, before the card poofed in white smoke and revealed a picture of the Uchiha along with a listings of all of his stats, including his Jonin, teammates, and special information.

"That's neat." Trunks admitted. The expressions on the others faces showed similar thoughts.

Sasuke nodded towards Trunks, a sign that Kabuto should look him up, "It says here that he's a member of Team 7. He's done 19 D-ranks, and 1 A-rank."

"When did you guys do an A-rank?!" Ino asked Sakura.

"Long story." The pinkette said.

Kabuto continued, "His ninjutsu and genjutsu are nonexistent, while his taijutsu is above average. It says here that he uses… ki?" His eyes widened in disbelief. The rookie nine already being used to that fact, were kind of indifferent. "Let's see what else, oh, it say's that he arrived in the village under mysterious circumstances, and that he's the son of a genius. He has a kekkei-genkai. His sensei is- huh?" The box where it was supposed to label who the sensei's were had a blacked out human shape with a question mark in the middle. Which was strange considering the card said his team Jonin was Kakashi. "His sensei is unknown for some reason."

Naruto turned to Trunks, "Didn't you say your sensei's name was Gohan or something?" He asked.

"Yeah, but it's not like most people here would know that." Trunks said.

Kabuto slipped the card back into the deck, "Anyone else?"

Actually, there was, "Gaara." Sasuke said with a low voice.

Kabuto pulled out one more card, "I take it you mean Sabaku no Gaara?" He activated the card, "Only thing I've got on him is that he's the son of the Kazekage… and, get this, he's never gotten a single scratch on a mission."

Shocked gasps escaped the mouths of every member of the rookie ten.

'No way, I couldn't even pull that off!' Trunks thought in amazement.

"Seriously, there's no way! Unless, they were doing D-Ranks the entire time." Kiba said.

Sasuke's fists clenched, 'He's _definitely_ someone we need to watch out for.'

The class's attention was brought to the front of the room by the sound of an explosion. When the white smoke settled they were greeted to the sight of a tall and tanned skinned man who had his headband tied like a bandanna and a vicious scar running down his left eye, in a manner similar to Kakashi's. The man was backed by a band of Chunin.

"Alright runts, shut up and listen! I'm Morino Ibiki and I'm gonna be the proctor of the first exam. Gotta problem with that? Didn't think so." The classes silence made the man smirk, "Now come up, take a number, and wait for further instructions."

XXXXX

After everyone took their number they were assigned to certain seating arrangements accordingly. Trunks found himself sitting next to an extremely creepy man… or was it a woman? If it were a man it was an extremely feminine one with a wide grass hat and an ornate attire. Trunks didn't know why, but the look in the man's eye was so… snakelike.

"Hello there." The man's voice was silky and came off as a purr.

"Hi." Trunks said simply, trying to be as polite as possible and not show that he was creeped the hell out.

"You seem rather strong. Why is that?" The man's eyes were roaming up and down Trunks arms, making the teen break out in a sweat.

"Uh, I do lot's of push ups and sit ups, and I drink lots of juice." Trunks said, hoping to shut the man up.

A glint in the man's eye showed a sort of excitement, making the saiyan seriously question the man's sexuality. Not that the demi-saiyan had a problem with gay people, he just didn't wanna get someone else's hopes up.

"Would you have happened to have a master help you get stronger?" The feminine man asked.

Trunks turned to him, "Yeah… I did."

Luckily for Trunks, the tests had finished being passed out so the other man couldn't continue. Little did Trunks know, he was sitting next to one of, if not _the_ worst villain in the Leaf Village's history.

"You get one hour, begin!" Ibiki ordered, making the room fill with the sounds of shifting papers and the tapping of pencils.

After looking over the first few questions, the Demi-saiyan could tell this test was going to be a cakewalk. It was all just basic physics and algebraic word problems. His mom may not have had him study every day of his life like Gohan had to as a kid, but a lot of his time that wasn't spent training with Gohan, was spent with Bulma teaching him the basics of engineering (A/N:For those of you that know nothing about engineering, it's basically applied physics). Most people would think that was boring, but when living in the apocalypse, anything could qualify as entertainment.

Sakura was faring well herself, being one of the smartest members of her team.

XXXXX

Naruto, on the other hand, was losing his mind. This was a test! And not just any test, it was a _written_ test, meaning he was absolutely screwed. And not only was he screwed, but Sasuke, Sakura, and Trunks were screwed with him. The frustration was tempting the blonde to rip his hair out.

'Screw it, it's cheating time!' Naruto declared in his head.

"Number 48, you're out! Take your team with you!" The proctor's loud voice startling everyone in the room.

Naruto grimaced, 'Well, maybe cheating's not such a good idea.'

"Psst, Naruto-kun." Naruto saw Hinata out of the corner of his eye. The Hyuuga's test was slid under her elbow towards Naruto, "You can copy mine if you'd like, I already finished." Hinata whispered.

The blonde strongly considered it, but stopped himself, "I can't Hinata. If I do that you'll get disqualified too. I won't let that happen."

'He… he cares!' Hinata's face went red at Naruto's honorable action.

XXXX

Sasuke wasn't doing any better than Naruto was, and it was stressing him the hell out. These were Chunin level questions for crying out loud. It's not like they had any way to study for these beforehand, so there wasn't a way for 95% of the examinees here to pass, unless they were meant to… cheat! The two point deduction, everyone sitting so closely together, the fact that the proctors made such a big fuss about cheating than actually getting the questions correct really drove this point home. Sasuke smirked before activating his Sharingan.

This was going to be a piece of cake.

He chose someone who was writing away at their test like it was a breeze. Soon the Uchiha's hand was copying the guys exact hand and arm movements.

Ibiki smirked from the front of the room, noticing Sasuke's sharingan, Neji's Byakugan, and other signs of the students cheating. Even though he knew who all was cheating, it wasn't like he was going to bust them. That wasn't his job. He was a supervisor, not a proctor like he led those kids to believe. Eventually, most students in the class figured out the main objective of the test, and soon everyone was cheating their asses off. The only student's really taking the test seriously were Naruto, Trunks, and Sakura. Trunks and Sakura because they were smart enough to answer most of the questions, and Naruto because of his ignorance of how to figure out otherwise.

The demi-saiyan was sitting boredly at his seat in the classroom, lightly tapping his pencil on his desk as a way to create ambient noise. Trunks had finished his test some time ago so it wasn't like there was anything else to do. His eyes traveled around the room, finding Sakura, then Sasuke, then Naruto. He figured it would be a good idea to see how the others were handling the exams. He looked towards Sakura and concentrated.

* _Hey Sakura.*_

The pinkette gasped at the sound of Trunks's voice. It sounded like he was speaking right next to her, but she knew he was across the room.

* _I know what you're thinking, but don't freak out. I'm just using a telepathic link. To speak back, just use your inside voice.*_ The demi-saiyan said.

The look in Sakura's eye showed that she was in awe, * _Trunks? This is so cool! Why didn't you tell us you could do this?*_ Sakura said in her head.

Trunks smirked, * _You never asked. But did you need any help with your test?*_ The prince asked.

* _No, but you should see about Sasuke and Naruto. Especially Naruto.*_

Trunks spread his link over to Sasuke, * _Hey Sasuke, it's me Trunks.*_ The saiyan noticed the Uchiha flinch in his seat, * _Don't worry I'm just talking telepathically. I have Sakura on the line too.*_

 _*Hi Sasuke!*_

 _*You okay with your test?*_ Trunks asked. _*Speak with your thoughts.*_

 _*Y-yeah, I am. How are we doing this?*_ The Uchiha asked hesitantly.

* _It's just a ki technique. Don't worry about it._ * Trunks began spreading his senses out toward Naruto. Only, he found that he couldn't. * _Damn, I tried to add Naruto in but I can't. He's too far away.*_

Sasuke cursed, * _Shit! I hope that dobe doesn't screw this up for us.*_

 _*Naruto will be fine. I believe in him.*_ Trunks said.

After the Genin's remaining time went by Ibiki grinned. This was his favorite part. It was time to weed out the weaklings. "Alright brats, listen up!" Ibiki drawled, catching every genin's attention. "It's time for all of you to answer the 10th question, but this one's a little different from the first nine. If you answer wrong, that's it, you're done, and what's worse, you will be stuck as a genin... forever."

One could hear a pin drop in the classroom. The scarred man silently cuckled, taking pleasure in watching the Genin squirm.

"What do you mean _we'll_ be stuck as a genin! There are several people here who've taken the exams more than once!" A random genin exclaimed.

A low chuckle escaped Ibiki's mouth, something everyone could hear, "I guess it's just your bad luck that you got me as a proctor." He grinned. "Anyone wanna drop now and not risk a permanent demotion?" A few hands went up. That seemed to be all, then another few rose, then some more. At the drop of a hat, over thirty Genin had been dismissed.

Five minutes of silence passed, which wound up with another five hands rising. Which resulted in 15 genin being dismissed. Another five minutes passed and no one moved a muscle.

"Whew, I wonder what it would be like to be stuck as a genin. No respect, all that crappy pay and

missions." Another six teams dropped.

Sakura was conflicted. She didn't want to risk getting the question wrong herself, and be forever below her team, but she didn't want to quit and be labeled a coward by Sasuke either. Then her thoughts went to Naruto. There wasn't a chance in hell that he'd answer this question right, and if he was permanently demoted, it would keep him from his dream. And if he was kept from his dream, that would destroy him. The pinkette couldn't let the blonde shatter his own dream just because he was too stubborn to call a quit and try again.

* _You guys._ * Sakura said through the telepathic link. * _I can't let Naruto get held back.*_

 _*What are you doing?*_ Sasuke asked. His question was answered as Sakura's shaky hand began to lift in the air. * _Sakura, don't you dare.*_ Sasuke warned.

*...* Trunks didn't know what to make of this. Being a Chunin didn't matter much to him, but he didn't know if it was such a good idea for Sakura to get them all booted.

Naruto's hand beat Sakura's into the air, sending a jolting shock through Team 7 and Hinata.

'No.' Hinata thought with sad eyes.

The Uzumaki held it high up in the air before slamming it down on the desk, the 'whack' catching the attention of everyone in the classroom.

"Screw you and your question!" Naruto shouted, "I don't care if I'm a genin forever, I'll become Hokage through sheer will if I have to! I'm not afraid!"

Ibiki blinked in shock at the hyperactive blondes determination. The scarred man took a look at everyone else in the class. "Oh really?" He grinned, "Well this is your last chance to quit. Does anyone wanna drop out now and not risk a permanent demotion?" The looks on the rest of the Genin's faces showed that Naruto's speech was inspirational enough to get them to stay, "Well then, if none of you are going to leave…" the tension skyrocketed as Ibiki paused as if getting ready for the question. He grinned heartedly, "Congratulations. You've passed the First Exam."

Silence filled the room, every Genin's eyes widening in surprise.

"Wh-What do you mean? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

Ibiki chuckled, "There never was one. The 'tenth question' was just a test of your determination. We needed to know how willing you were to stay."

"Wait a minute, so what was the point of the other nine?! Were they just a waste of time?" Temari rudely asked.

"Not at all, the first nine were meant to see just how well you could gather information. As I explained before this test is based on all the success of all of your teammates. This puts pressure on each team member to want to do their best." Ibiki smirked, "I'm sure you realized by now the questions on this test were more than most Genin could answer, and most of you realized you needed to cheat. There were chunin in the crowd for that specific purpose. Of course, those that cheated poorly failed. This is because on the battlefield, information can mean life and death."

"But I still don't understand the tenth question." Stated Temari.

"It was a way to test whether or not you are willing to risk everything. To see if you are you willing to risk yourself and your teammates in order to carry out the mission. Congratulations on passing the first test, I wish you all the best of-"

Ibiki was interrupted by a mass of black crashing through the window and into the front of the classroom. The shadow expanded, setting all of the present shinobi on edge. A banner opened, getting pinned to the ceiling with kunai; the banner read 'Second Exam proctor Mitarashi Anko, sit down, shut up and pay attention.' In front of the banner stood a provocatively dressed woman wearing a fishnet body suit with a brown trench coat layered on top. Anko's hair was tied back in a loose ponytail.

The second they got an eyeful of her, the Rookie Ten had one collective thought. 'She's like Naruto.'

Anko got a good look at the amount of Genin still in the classroom and pouted, "What the hell Ibiki, there's like 80 Genin here. You get soft or something?"

Ibiki shook his head, "No, there's just a stronger batch of candidates this year."

"Pfft, doesn't look like it," Anko grinned, "But it's not like it matters anyways cause by the time I'm done with them, more than _half_ will be eliminated."

A sense of dread blanketed the remaining Genin, 'H...Half?'

"Alright, listen up you maggots," she barked, just as rude and abrasive as Ibiki. "Follow me to the training ground for your next exam!" She walked out of the class with the genin in tow, the youngsters having no idea of the hell they would soon be facing.

When the class was finally cleared and empty, Ibiki went around to each student's desk to collect their test. When he got to Naruto's, he looked at it and smiled.

"I just passed a genin that didn't answer a single question…" he chuckled. "That Naruto Uzumaki's a funny one alright."

XXXXXXX

A/N: Now we get into the fun stuff, starting next chapter.

I also have a bonus scene by NaitoOni93 that I didn't feature the previous chapter, it's a fight between Sasuke, Trunks, and Lee. Hope you enjoy!

( **DELETED SCENE)**

A green jumpsuit clad shinobi was knocked back by one of the chunins who were guarding the entry to the exams.

The shinobi's teammate, a girl with two hair buns and a pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse glared at the two chunin who hit her teammate.

"Please let us in. We're supposed to go in there." The girl pleaded.

"Tsk. You're taking the chunin exams but you can't even pass us?!" One of the chunin taunted.

The girl growled and tried to get in herself, however the result ended up the same. The other ninja who were surrounding the door were whispering in fear, awed at how harsh the Chunin were being towards Genin.

"Heh, You think that's harsh?! Don't kid yourself, we're only being nice by comparison. The exams are gonna make this look like a picnic." The chunin said, trying to strike fear into the contenders' hearts.

"Some of you won't survive the exam. Others will be wrecked for life and some of you may go crazy." His teammate added.

"For chunin, it's always life or death. You think it's a joke?! Chunin are qualified to lead missions."

Team 7 approached the Chunin. Sasuke decided to end this stupid charade right now.

"Real nice speech. Now both of you step aside and let us through." The sole surviving Uchiha demanded as he began walking towards the door.

The saiyan stepped up behind him, "And while you're at it, reverse the genjutsu. We can see through your lame illusion anyway. We're going to the third floor." Trunks ordered with a glare.

This surprised everyone besides team 7 in the room. This whole time...it was a genjutsu?! And they fell for it too. The chunin however were the least shocked by this.

"Well Well, so you noticed the genjutsu huh?" The spiky haired chunin said.

Sasuke smirked and looked at Sakura and Naruto.

"Go ahead you two, you noticed the genjutsu before anyone else did. I'm sure you noticed it too Sakura, you have the best analytical skills and the sharpest eyes in our squad. You must've saw this coming a mile away."

"O-Of course! Sure! I spotted it right away! This is only the second floor!" Sakura said as if she _really_ knew it all along

"R-Right!" Naruto agreed.

Sasuke wasn't done there as he turned to Trunks and smirked at the two chunin. "And you can forget about lying. Our other teammate here...is immune to genjutsu."

This shocked everyone but squad seven. Even the ninja in the green jumpsuit was surprised by this information. His teammate with pearl colored eyes looked at the demi saiyan with surprise. Trunks was even more shocked that Sasuke was giving him props. 'A ninja...who is immune to genjutsu?! Is that...even possible?!' He thought. He looked at the Uchiha and the Saiyan; he had to know who they are.

Meanwhile, the genjutsu was undone much to everyone's joy. The chunin with spiky hair grinned at Sasuke, "So, you've noticed an illusion. Congrats." Then he smirked, "Now...let's see you deal with this!" The chunin shouted as he went to go attack Sasuke with a spinning kick.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he planned to block the attack with a kick of his own. However, the shinobi with the green jumpsuit came in between them and stopped both of their attacks with his hands.

'How...How'd he do that? I thought he was some weakling getting knocked over. But he's as fast as Sasuke-kun.' Sakura thought.

The ninja let go of their legs as they both backed away from each other, the chunin flipping back to his previous spot.

'He stopped my kick. That's some serious chakra he's got in his arm. The only people I know who can do that are Kakashi and Trunks.' Sasuke thought while he gritted his teeth.

The pearly eyed Genin walked up to his teammate, arms crossed.

"Hey. What happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said 'Keep a low profile and don't let anyone see our skill level.'?" Neji asked.

The bushy brow ninja sighed and looked down in shame. "I know, BUT..." He then began to blush as he got an eyeful of Sakura.

The girl with the two haired buns sighed and shook her head. "Just forget it..."

Sasuke noticed that the bushy brow ninja had no more bruises on his face where the chunin had attacked him from before. 'What happened to the bruises on his face?! They're gone.'

'This guy...is something else... I need to keep an eye out on him too.' Trunks thought while he narrowed his eyes on the bushy brow ninja.

The ninja walked up to Sakura with utmost courage and began to blush once more. "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, correct?" He asked.

'Just what is this guy up to?' Naruto thought, keeping an eye on the ninja.

"Uh huh..." Sakura said; feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

Lee smirked and struck a nice guy pose. "Please be my girlfriend! I vowed to protect you with my life!" He declared as his teeth sparkled for some odd reason.

Trunks was shocked about the turn of events and looked at Sakura.

'Oh boy...This isn't gonna end well...What're you gonna do, Sakura?' He thought.

"Definitely...Not." Sakura said with a glare.

"Why!?..." Lee asked, his voice heartbroken.

"Because you're a weirdo." Sakura replied flatly.

Trunks hissed from the response that was given to Lee. He looked at the depressed form of Lee and couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. Naruto however, laughed at his misfortune.

Lee's teammates walked up to Sasuke and Trunks, with the teammate with pearly eyes demanding to know who Trunks and Sasuke were. Naruto noticed this and growled, even though Trunks was practically his best friend, he can't help but feel he was being overshadowed by him. He also gained much more attention and praise, being able to keep up with Kakashi and almost killing Zabuza. That's why he secretly made it his personal goal to not only become Hokage and beat Sasuke, but to surpass Trunks as well.

Sasuke and Trunks turned to the two and stared at them.

"It's common courtesy to give your own names instead of asking somebody else's." Sasuke replied.

"And besides... what if we just don't tell you." Trunks replied with his Vegeta-like smirk.

"You two are rookies...how old are you guys anyway?" Neji demanded more than asked.

"We're not obliged to answer..." Sasuke replied.

"What was that?!" He growled.

The girl with hair buns giggled and blushed at their coolness. 'Cute' She thought. She then noticed that Naruto and Trunks were carrying swords, since Trunks was a lot closer. She decided to ask him about it.

"Hey! You with the sword on his back. Where did you get that cool sword?" She approached him, "I'm Tenten by the way. And this is Neji, he's of the Hyuga Clan." She said. All of the attention was soon dropped on him. He hated this much attention, but sighed and decided to answer the girl.

"Alright then, I'm Trunks. Trunks Brief and this sword was given to me by a friend." He unsheathed his sword while Tenten took a look at it. Then she asked a surprising question.

"C-Can I hold it?"

"W-What?!"

"Can I hold your sword and inspect it upfront. Trust me, nothing nefarious." She said as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Sasuke noticed and narrowed his eyes. But he knew full well that the demi-saiyan could handle himself. He witnessed his strength first hand and was completely surprised of the saiyan's capabilities. He also found out that he had a kekkei genkai, called Super Saiyan. A kekkei genkai that can increase your abilities by 500%. He wished to see it in action and wondered if it could match his sharingan. Trunks immediately became Sasuke's rival in hopes of surpassing him if ever wanted to beat Itachi.

The son of Vegeta grinned and tossed the sword to Tenten, who, although caught it was surprised at how easily the Briefs boy just handed it over. She then looked at the blade and smiled at the texture of the hilt and the craftsmanship of it.

"Pretty sharp. Strong enough to cut through steel I say. Remarkable Craftsmanship. Who made it?" She asked.

Trunks shrugged. Truth be told, he never knew the original creator. He just thought it was a sword that Tapion was given to one day.

Tenten's smile turned to a grin as she put on a challenging smirk. "Now a good looking sword can't be without a great wielder. I want to test this blade on you and see you're worthy of getting it back. Sound like a challenge?"

Sasuke sighed and looked at the two. This was wasting his time, but then again. He would love to see how this turned out.

Trunks nodded and held out one finger. "Go for it. I'm ready. This is all I'll need to beat you." He said as gave her one his saiyan-like grins.

Tenten looked baffled that he believed he'll stop her with one finger, even Neji believed it was ludicrous.

"Oh well, your funeral." She let out a battle cry and swung the sword at the Saiyan in a horizontal fashion. He grinned and stopped the blade cold with his finger. This shocked everyone at the display of power he had.

'W-Whoa...he wasn't kidding.' Tenten thought. She backed up and gulped.

'Immune to genjutsu and can block attacks with his fingers...is this guy even human?!' Neji thought.

"Sorry. But I can't be playing around right now. So I'll be taking this back." Trunks said as he grabbed his sword from the girl. What he did next was toss the blade into the air and lean to the right a bit as the blade landed right into its sheath. Many ninja begin to whisper at the display of power, technique, and just straight up badassery.

"Whoa, he's so cool..."

"Yeah...he and that other guy are dangerous."

"I hope I don't run into him"

'Tsk...Show off.' Sasuke glared at the saiyan a bit. He and Trunks walked by a depressed Lee and Naruto who were murmuring about something.

"Weirdo?" Lee repeated sadly.

"Ugh! No one wants to know my name..." Naruto grunted sadly.

Trunks smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure you'll fight a ninja who would want to know your name someday."

Sakura smiled at the three boys "Trunks-Kun, Sasuke-Kun, Naruto. Come on let's go."

Squad 7 then left the other ninja and headed towards the third floor, waiting for the chunin exams to begin.

Unknown to all of them, the two chunin were peeking through a door, watching the whole event.

"So that's the bunch of misfits that Kakashi and Gai have been going on about. And that Trunks kid is with them too. Seems interesting." Said the chunin with the bandana tied to his head.

"I guess they passed their first test, getting their applications through."

The two chunin made a half tiger seal and soon undid their disguises. Who it really was, was Kotetsu and Izumo. Two chunin who were actually examiners of the exam.

"Looks like the exams are gonna be fun this year with that kid around." Kotetsu commented.

"Fun for us, maybe. But not for them." Izumo replied.

Meanwhile, Lee and Neji were looking at the retreating backs of Sasuke and Trunks.

'Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan...and Trunks..." Neji thought.

Tenten got over her stupor of the events that transpired with Trunks. She looked at Neji and giggled a bit.

"They're pretty bold. You're gonna challenge them, too?" She teased a bit. Neji replied with a 'hmph' as he walked away with Tenten following. But not Lee, he decided to stay for some reason.

"Lee what are you waiting for, we were supposed to check in." Tenten said.

"I will catch up with you in a minute. There's something I need to check out." Lee said as he walked the opposite way. Tenten looked at his retreating form and turned to Neji, "What's he up to?"

"I have no idea." Neji replied. Not really caring as he continue to walk off, with Tenten following him of course.

Meanwhile, Squad 7 were currently walking through a hall until someone shouted out for their attention.

"Hey! You with the attitude, and you with the sword! Hold on!"

The four looked up to see Lee standing at the balcony glaring at Sasuke and Trunks.

Team 7 was a bit surprised to see him again. Sasuke shot him an annoyed glance and demanded, "What do you want?"

"I want to fight you, and the guy with the sword! Right here! Right now!" Lee retorted.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked at the green jumpsuit ninja. "You want to fight me here and now, huh?"

"Yes!" Lee said as he jumped off the balcony and landed on the floor, crouching. He stood up, looking determined at the two boys.

Lee then put his thumb up to himself and begin to introduce himself.

"My name is Rock Lee. You said it was common courtesy for challengers to give their names first. Right? Sasuke Uchiha! And Trunks Brief".

Trunks smirked at the ninja and decided to step in.

Lee then got into a battle stance and glared at them. "I challenge you, Sasuke! Trunks! Everyone is always talking about the legendary Uchiha clan and how great they are. Or the mysterious visitor that arrived out of nowhere. They say that he nearly killed one of the seven ninja of mist and assassinated a chunin effortlessly. I want to see if it's true, I figure you both would be a good test for me."

"You know...I am kinda curious myself. You stopped Sasuke's kick and that speed you displayed. Sure, I'll take you on." Trunks said as his saiyan blood begin to boil.

Lee blushed and looked at Sakura, while Sakura was a bit creeped out.

"Oh Sakura. I love you!" Lee confessed much to Sakura's horror.

"Aaaugh, That hairstyle is horrible and those eyebrows are so bushy! You're such a weirdo!" She cringed while shivering at the thought of her and Lee dating. She would much rather date Naruto.

However her comments didn't affect him this time as he started to blow kisses which somehow converted into flying hearts.

'What the-? Is that a jutsu?' Trunks thought. He watched Sakura comically dodging the hearts. 'Ok. This is getting weird...'

He then saw Sakura fall on her head, a failed attempt at dodging a heart matrix-styled. She got up and began to shout at Lee.

"Hey! Keep your creepy lil valentines to yourself. I was dodging for my life there!"

'Again. Rejected. Sorry Lee, she isn't in to you. Now...about our battle.' He grinned as he stared at him.

Naruto however was beyond pissed off; his face reddening in anger,

'Ugh! Again! Sasuke and Trunks! He wants to fight Sasuke and Trunks!' Naruto screamed in his head.

"You've heard of the Uchiha clan yet you're challenging me?" repeated Sasuke. As if he found the bushy brow weirdo crazy. "You must be even more psycho then you look. If that's possible; you wanna know more about my clan? Then I'll teach you, the hard way." Sasuke threatened with a glare. Who does this guy think he is? Sasuke will show this loser what happens when you take lightly to an Uchiha.

Lee didn't looked fazed from the threat, in fact he was even more determined. He got into his strong fist style position which was noticed by Trunks.

'What? That's an odd stance.' He commented in his head.

'Excellent. A match against an Uchiha and a number one rookie. I will draw both of them out and get them to reveal their technique. And I will prove myself to you, Gai-Sensei' Lee planned confidently.

Just before the battle could begin, Naruto interrupted the fight, demanding he take a crack at Lee first.

"N-Naruto?!" Trunks gasped.

"I _got_ this. This weirdo is mine!"

Sasuke smirked and nodded "Go for it..."

"Naruto..." Sakura growled with a warning tone in her voice. But Naruto ignored her and stepped forward.

"It'll take me two minutes to have this guy begging for mercy!" Naruto growled.

Lee looked at Naruto said. "No thank you. The only ones I want to fight is Uchiha and Briefs."

Naruto growled at this. Getting sick of the treatment that Sasuke and Trunks have been getting lately.

He put his hands up and flashed some handsigns. Trunks noticed immediately that those were the handsigns for one of the blondes favorite jutsu.

"WELL, I GOT NEWS FOR YA! SASUKE AND TRUNKS DON'T COMPARE TO ME! BELIEVE IT!"

"NARUTO! DON'T!" Trunks shouted.

"WIND STYLE: AIR BULLETS!" He shout out some air blurs towards Lee who dodged them nimbly.

'An A-rank jutsu that is learn from a genin. Impressive. He's a lot stronger than I imagined.' Lee thought. To the naked eye it would seem like Lee had teleported. But that isn't the case, Sasuke and Trunks with their trained eyes noticed him appear behind Naruto. "It is over. I win." Lee declared as he ducked a blow from Naruto and used a leg sweep to knock Naruto into wall, knocking him out for a bit.

'I tried to warn him. But still, I can't believe he took out Naruto in one blow. Is he that strong?' Trunks thought.

Lee got back into his stance, looking determined as ever.

"Accept it. You have no chance against me, your skills are inferior." He then turned to Sasuke. "You see Sasuke, Trunks, out of all the top lead genin. I am the best. Fight me and I will prove it too you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. "Alright then. Let's do it." Sasuke said with a determined grin on his face.

Sakura looked at the clock and noticed that they were running out of time.

"There's no time Sasuke-Kun. We've got to register by three o'clock. That's in less than half an hour." Sakura pleaded.

Sasuke didn't care. This guy wanted a fight and now he was going to get one. "Relax. This'll be all over in five seconds." Sasuke replied before charging towards Lee.

'Alright Sasuke. Let's see how much you progress.' Trunks thought. He stepped back next to Sakura, observing the upcoming showdown before Sasuke and Lee.

'Here he comes.' Lee thought as he prepared himself. 'Forgive me Gai-Sensei, I know it's forbidden. But I may break the rules and use THAT jutsu!' Lee fazed out of the way just before Sasuke's punch could connect his face.

'There's that speed again.' Trunks thought.

Lee appeared at Sasuke's side, attempting a round kick. "Leaf Hurricane!"

Sasuke ducked the kick as Lee quickly regained his footing, coming with a spin kick.

'Not moving fast enough, gotta block it.' Sasuke thought. However, while his eyes were trained on Lee, the green clad ninja made an half tiger seal; distracting Sasuke. 'What the hell?!' Sasuke shouted in surprise in his head as he was kicked in the face.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura cried as the Uchiha was sent flying across the room. Sasuke grunted as he struggled to get back up.

Trunks looked at Lee with much curiosity. 'What was that handsign just now, What kind of jutsu was that?' Trunks wondered.

"Ugh…What's going on?!" Sasuke grunted.

'He had his guard up and Lee went right through it!' Sakura thought with amazement.

Sasuke got on his feet and grunted a bit.

'He's using some technique to get to me. What is it? A ninjutsu or genjutsu?' He wondered.

Sasuke turned to Lee, more prepared now and ready for round two.

'Alright. This is good. Got him right where I want him. Now's my chance.' He smirked.

"I've been waiting to try this out. I was saving this technique for you, Trunks." Sasuke said.

Trunks noticed Sasuke had his eyes closed. 'So he really does have it now, awesome!' Trunks grinned.

'Could it be?!' Sakura thought.

Sasuke opened his eyes to reveal they both had the Sharingan. 'When did he learn….his is in both of them?' Sakura thought as Sasuke charged at Lee.

'So that's the Sharingan?' Lee thought.

'There's no way Sasuke-kun would lose to this weirdo! Shannaro!'

However all hope vanished when Lee kicked Sasuke in the chin. Trunks was surprised that not even the sharingan can keep up with his speed.

'This guy will be quite a handful once I fight him.' Trunks said.

'Ugh! He got around my guard! What happened?! What kind of jutsu is that?!" Sasuke wondered.

Lee looked at Sasuke, "You see, my technique isn't ninjutsu or genjutsu!" Lee said as he charged at Sasuke. Sasuke landed on his feet and the two began to fight once more. Naruto on the other hand regained his consciousness and saw what was going on.

"Oh no! Sasuke!" Naruto cried out.

'Ah! Naruto's awake. I was starting to get a bit worried. So this guy is just using taijutsu huh? No wonder Sasuke is having trouble. And his speed is deadly, it's about as fast as me in my base form.' Trunks thought as he watched Sasuke getting the stuffing beat out of him. 'I guess I better step in now.'

"SASUKE! That's enough! Let me have a crack at him.'

Sasuke panted and glared at the demi saiyan.

"NO! He's all mine!" Sasuke retorted.

Trunks sighed and shook his head. "Sasuke, you need to save your strength. I know you can't go all out against him. Besides, don't you want to fight Gaara." Trunks replied, trying to get the Uchiha to step down.

Sasuke grunted and stepped out the battle. "Fine…." But as soon as he walked pass the saiyan who was walking towards Lee. "Be careful Trunks. His sp…"

"I know….faster than Haku. Trust me…I'll be fine…." Trunks then looked at the clock.

"Only 9 minutes left…."

Lee looked at Trunks and was starting to have doubts. He heard rumors around Konoha and his teachers that Trunks managed effortlessly beat Sasuke without breaking a sweat. Not to mention, almost exterminating one of the seven swordsmen of the mist.

"This is someone I should look out for…." Lee mumbled to himself.

Trunks smirked and then charged at Lee in a blinding speed, surprising the green clad ninja. Trunks threw a punch which was countered by a block from Lee. Lee grabbed his arm and swung him away. Trunks quickly gained his footing and managed to elbow Lee in the side.

"Guah!...He…He got me." Lee coughed in surprised.

"ALRIGHT TRUNKS! TAKE THAT WEIRDO DOWN!" Naruto cheered.

"Yeah Trunks-Kun! Beat him down!" Sakura added.

'There's no way Trunks-Kun could lose to this guy! No way!'

Lee quickly recovered and sent a jump kick flying towards the demi saiyan. "Leaf Hurricane!"

'Oh no you don't!' Trunks countered the kick with his arm, the force making the room vibrate. Trunks didn't expect a quick leg sweep right after. "Leaf Whirlwind!"

Trunks grunted, cursing himself for falling for such a cheap trick. As Trunks was about to fall on his back, Lee quickly kicked him up forward in the air.

"UGH! COME ON TRUNKS! QUIT FOOLING AROUND! BEAT THIS GUY!" Naruto shouted.

'I know Naruto. But his speed is tricky. Ugh…I guess I'll have to end this quickly.' Trunks thought. He hung in the air, pointing a hand towards the bushy brow ninja.

'What is he planning….' Lee thought.

'I see…so he's now gonna use ki. Bout time..' Sasuke grinned.

"Burning Storm!" The prince shouted as he shot out a volley of blue ki blasts at the ninja.

'That's the same technique Trunks-Kun used to beat that creep, Zabuza.' Sakura thought.

'I see…so the rumors are true. He is a ki user after all.' Lee thought as he dodged the barrage of ki blast. 'To fight a ki user at this time of day and the one who beat Uchiha Sasuke and a seven swordsman of the mist effortlessly will prove my worth even more. Sorry Gai-Sensei, I believe it is the time to use THAT jutsu!'

Just before Trunks was about to charge at Lee, he seemed to vanished and managed to kick the demi saiyan in the air again.

"UGH!" Trunks cried out as he was knocked into the air. Lee crouched on the floor and vanished once again, he then appear behind Trunks and began to unravel the bandages on his arm.

Sasuke immediately noticed what was going on and grunted. "Dancing Leaf Shadow…" He whispered.

Trunks cursed himself for letting his guard down once again.

'Dammit, he got me again. Not Naruto or Sasuke managed to get this guy down. I don't wanna go super saiyan just yet. I have to stop this technique without revealing too much of myself.' He planned.

"You're finished…" Lee declared.

"TRUNKS-KUN NO!" Sakura cried out.

Just before Lee could deliver the blow, a kunai shot out of nowhere and pierced itself on to Lee's bandaged, halting the attack. Trunks recovered and hung in the air once more, his

eyes now green however his hair remained the same. Lee noticed this and was surprised.

'What was that just now? Does he have a Kekkei Genkai too? Was he….holding back!?' Lee thought. However all thoughts were interrupted when a turtle appear and begin yelling.

"Alright! THAT'S ENOUGH! Lee." Called out the Turtle.

Lee landed gracefully on to the floor, while Trunks floating down gently on to the floor; returning his eyes back to normal.

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto rushed to him; asking what happened back there.

"I'm …not sure….but…I'll say he's easily as fast as me." Trunks confessed which shocked the rest of team 7.

'W-w-what?! But Trunks-Kun is the strongest guy I know. There's no way.' Sakura thought.

'Impossible! Is Trunks saying that…that weirdo is stronger than him?!...no…that's not it. But why was he holding back?' Sasuke wondered.

'Ugh! No way! That can't be. Wow….Bushy Brow must be crazy strong if he can keep up with Trunks.' Naruto thought with amazement.

Lee landed in front of the turtle and bowed. "Y-You were watching us the entire time?" Lee asked.

"Of course! That last technique is forbidden! You know that!" The turtle scolded.

He then turned his gazed at Trunks who was watching the scene.

'This kid can use ki….if the fight prolonged even further…eventually. He would've beaten Lee.'

Naruto however was weirded out from the scene. 'He's talking to a turtle...And it's talking back.'

"I am sorry. I did not mean too." Lee apologized.

'And now he's apologizing to a turtle….Wait a minute! Could that be…his sensei?!' Naruto wondered. Lee put his head down in shame, not before looking at the turtle who was giving a very scary death glare. Lee noticed, feeling frightened and began to frantically apologize. Which Trunks chuckled from the comical scene.

"I'm right! It really is his sensei!" Naruto said suddenly, which confused Sasuke, Sakura and Trunks. "Hey you guys!" Naruto ran up to the three and asked the oddest question in history of ever. "That weird thing he's talking to is a turtle, Right?'

Sakura angrily rolled her eyes and replied. "Obviously, what do you think it is?"

"Okay then. Then that means turtles can be sensei too." Naruto replied.

"How the hell would I know if they could be sensei too?!" Sakura retorted.

The turtle glared harder at Lee. "You're a disgrace." Which Lee flinched at the comment. "You think you'll get away with a bunch of lame excuses like that?! A shinobi never reveals his techniques unless it's absolutely dire. It's such a basic rule, you should know it by now." He scolded once more.

"Forgive me, sir."

Sasuke grunted as he wiped the blood off his lip. He glared at the back of Lee and clenched his fist. 'How could I lose to that freak!?' The ebony haired teen growled in irritation.

"Are you prepared to take the punishment of your actions?!" Asked the turtle.

Lee accepted, reluctantly. "Alright, please come out! Gai-Sensei!" The turtle called out as a poof of white smoke appeared on his back, revealing man that looked way too similar to Lee doing a ridiculous pose.

'What…' Trunks thought.

'The…' Sakura thought.

'Hell…?' Naruto and Sasuke thought.

"HEY! WHAT'S SHAKIN' EVERYBODY?! LIFE TREATIN' YA GOOD?!" Gai said.

Which freaked out the members of squad 7.

"HE'S GOT THE BIGGEST EYEBROWS YET, THEY'RE ALMOST ALIVE!" Naruto cried.

Gai did a nice guy pose and winked at his student. "Hi Lee." He greeted.

'You've got to be kidding me…' Trunks said.

"Too…weird." Sakura commented.

"So…that's where Lee gets it from. Same stupid haircut and even bushier eyebrows." Naruto comment as well. However, Lee didn't take too kindly of that comment and angrily responded.

"HEY! DO NOT INSULT GAI-SENSEI! HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

Naruto replied back…angrily. "WELL EXCUSE ME FOR NOT NOTICING HIS GREATNESS, I WAS TOO BUSY WATCHING HIM CRAWLING OUT FROM UNDERNEATH THAT TURTLE!"

"HE DID NOT CRAWL OUT!"

Gai interrupted the dispute by waving a hand at him. "Give it a rest Lee."

Lee reluctantly turned around and obeyed. "Yes sir."

Gai then pulled back his fist, getting ready to punch him. "Now for your punishment."

Gai then punched his student, sending him to the ground. "YOU LITTLE FOOL!"

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Squad 7 cried out.

Gai then walked up to the down Lee, and got down on one knee.

"Sorry Lee, But…it's for you own good." Gai choked up as tears begin to form.

"Se-Sensei." As Lee begin to cry as well.

"Oh Lee…"

"Oh sensei…

"LEE!"

"SENSEI!

"LEE!"

Then they hugged as a sunset appeared and waves crashed in the background. Team 7 was feeling all kinds of discomfort.

'Ugh…that's…gross.' Sakura commented.

'What the…' Naruto commented.

'That is just so wrong…' Trunks commented.

'How can I lose to someone so lame!?' Sasuke wondered.

The bushy browed duo broke the hug and wiped their tears. Gai then pointed to the non-existent sunset and told Lee to run 100 laps around the practice grounds. As soon as Lee and Gai were about to take off, Naruto stopped them.

"Hey! Wait a minute! We're not finished here! You guys just can't take off like that!" Naruto shouted.

"And what about the chunin exams? There's no time fooling around!" Sakura reminded.

Gai stopped walking and sheepishly turned around, scratching his cheek. "Ah..Oh! Right I forgot about that!" He cleared his throat, gaining Lee's attention.

"Lee you not only disobeyed the rule against fighting, you've disrupted the chunin exams. I believe that rewards a slightly more severe punishment. Don't you?" Gai suggested.

"Yes sir." Lee replied.

"Then let's make it 500 laps. How does that sound!" Gai cheered.

"Outstanding! Thank you sir." Lee saluted.

Squad 7 could only sweatdrop and leave them alone, heading towards the door that lead to the chunin exams. Sasuke could only grunt and yet smirk about his loss, he was angry, sure, but excited because it gave him a reason to get stronger. Gaara, Neji, Lee, Naruto, and Trunks; those are the people he wanted to fight the most.

Gai watched their retreating forms and his eyes trailed over to Trunks. 'So that's the mysterious ki user, Trunks Briefs. To have a power like that, that existed a millenia ago...' Gai smirked, "Lee's gonna have new heights to aim for." Gai turned and walked away with his protege.

A/N: See you guys next time!


	14. Forest of Death

A/N: Before we begin this chapter, I need to go on a little rant here. Now, just so we're clear on something, I have been a DBZ fan since I was 4 years old, and I'm 17 now. Meaning, I've been a DBZ fan for 13 years, so I know _exactly_ what the characters are capable of. I _know_ that Master Roshi can blow up a moon, I _know_ that Trunks can blow up a planet, I _know_ that Trunks is capable of FTL combat speed. And I think most authors on this site (me included) know that Trunks, with just a fraction of his power, could absolutely wreck shit up in the Narutoverse… unless you're a biased Narutard, like *cough*FTDS*cough*.

Also, a point I want to bring up, the planet-busting attacks. Answer this, when has a Z-fighter _ever_ resorted to blowing up the planet to win a fight? And you can't say Vegeta because he wasn't a true Z-fighter when he did that. Can't think of a time can you? Because they won't, we know they _can,_ but they won't, it's not how they do thing's, so why even bring it up as a point? And I've noticed a lot of similar fanboy comment's under mine, and plenty of other great authors stories. I also noticed that a lot of you fanboys try to scare weaker authors into writing what you want, instead of what the authors wants, which results in shitty stories.

Too bad I'm not one of those authors.

Look, I have enough pride and confidence in my work that I'm not gonna change the way I do things. I believe in a crossover, you need to keep things balanced enough so that the protagonist doesn't curbstomp the hell out of whatever obstacle or opponent comes their way. And if you've truly sat down and read most of the crossovers on this site, you will see that I'm right. Gohan's Dilemma is a perfect example, and is easily one of, if not _the_ best DBZxNaruto fic. I will admit that there are good god-mode fics, but even then, the main characters hold back so they don't destroy everything around them.

So, now that we have clear that Trunks isn't going to curbstomp everyone, I only have this to say, and I'm only gonna say this once (I'm also going to do all caps so you really get the message): IF YOU ARE THE KIND OF READER THAT WILL GET BUTT-HURT AT ME LETTING TRUNKS TAKE A FEW PUNCHES EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, TURN BACK IMMEDIATELY AND REMOVE THIS STORY FROM YOUR FOLLOW LIST. I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU FLAME, RANT, BITCH, OR MOAN IN THE REVIEW SECTION. IF YOU DECIDE TO CONTINUE, AND GET ANGRY AT ANY OF THE FUTURE FIGHT SCENES TO COME, YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME. HELL, I'M NOT THE BEST AUTHOR, BUT I BET MOST OF YOU FANBOY'S COULDN'T WRITE A FIC BETTER THAN ME.

And for my readers who have stuck with me and not had a problem with the way I do things, thanks. You rock! Now onto the story.

* * *

The Genin found themselves standing before a fenced off training ground. Tall and scraggly trees occupied the inside of the closed off area, making it nigh impossible for the Genin to see what was inside of the dark and shadowed forest floor. The sound of hissing made them not too thrilled to find out.

Anko grinned at the Genin out in front of her, relishing in their paling faces, "Welcome to the next phase of your exam. The Forest of Death. You guys better get yourselves comfortable because it's gonna be your home for the next five days."

"Five days?!" Ino exclaimed.

"What are we supposed to do for food?!" Choji cried.

"It's a forest, nimrod. There'll be plenty of animals to hunt and berries to pick. You'll be just fine… maybe." Anko said with a slight chuckle in the end.

Trunks took a glance at the forest before shrugging, "Big deal, my master had me survive alone in a forest for months." That came off as a bit of a shocker to those that were in hearing range.

'Months? Why?' Sakura wondered. The others thoughts weren't too far off.

Anko grinned before flinging a kunai at the saiyan. Trunks caught the knife by it's hilt.

"You shouldn't throw sharp things at people, you could really put an eye out." Trunks said smugly before tossing the knife back to her.

Anko leered at him before continuing, "Anyways, you all need to sign these waivers." She pulled out a stack of papers from the inside of her jacket and roughly shoved them into a random genin, who took one and passed the stack.

"What for?" Naruto asked.

Anko smiled, "So I don't get held accountable if you happen to die in the exams." Most of the genin's faces turned white. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow, liking where this was going. "This portion of the exam is meant to be the ultimate survival test, and an evaluation of just how well you can transport captured intelligence back to friendly territory." She held up two scrolls, one with the kanji for heaven, and the other for earth. "One of these scrolls will be your teams cargo. And it'll be your teams job to get the opposite scroll from an opposing team and make it to the tower in the center of the forest."

"What are the rules?" Gaara asked.

Anko grinned, "There are none. Anything goes to get those scrolls, and since you've all signed the waiver, no deaths will be investigated only bodies will be recovered. " A grin crossed Gaara's lips, making Temari and Kankuro gulp.

This was gonna be a bloodbath.

"Actually, there are three ways your team can get disqualified; one, if you can't get a scroll or make it to the tower within those five days, two, if a teammate gets incapacitated or dies, three, if any of you for any reason look at the content of the scrolls before you reach the tower." Anko explained.

"What if the scroll falls open and we just happen to read it?" Naruto asked.

"Lemme put it to you this way, _you don't want to know."_ Anko said with an innocent smile, "This test is also meant as a means to test your integrity. So try not to let us down, okay shortie?" Naruto frowned and grunted at being labeled as 'shortie'. "Alright, we all clear? Good. Now everyone turn in your consent forms, get a scroll, and pick a gate. We'll begin in 30 minutes."

* * *

As the Genin turned in their waivers, Sasuke sat away on his own behind a large boulder, drowning in his thoughts.

'I see how it is now. Regardless of whatever scroll we get, no other team is gonna know what we have, and vice-versa. Meaning that potentially everyone here is my enemy. Not like it matters though. We're the only four man squad; with Naruto and Trunks being the juggernauts, me being the tactician and close-quarter combat specialist, and Sakura being the brains of the group. We have such a huge advantage I would say it's almost cheating.' A small smirk began to make it's way across Sasuke's face. 'Too bad for them.'

Like Sasuke, Trunks already turned in his form and took his seat away from anyone else. It wasn't intentional, but Sakura and Ino got into an argument which kind of drove the saiyan to avoid them as well, not wanting to be involved if things got physical. Also like Sasuke, Trunks had his own thoughts about the test,

'So, no restrictions, huh. I guess this means that the mass majority of the people here will be trying to kill us. I won't like it, but if anyone tries to kill me or any of my friends I'll neutralize them like I would anyone else.' The demi-saiyan would never _enjoy_ killing someone, but he wouldn't dare hesitate to take a life. Where he came from that could mean a death sentence.

'For their sake, they better hope they don't run into me during these exams.'

* * *

After every Genin team retrieved their scroll, it grew time to begin the test. Each team of Genin stood before their own gate, listening as Anko's voice came through the radio speakers, "Alright maggots, the gates will open and the exam will begin on my countdown."

Team 7 eagerly waited for the Jonins call.

"Five… four…" The chain's dropped on every gate, "three… two…" the gates opened wide, "ONE!"

Team 7 shot into the dark forest canopy.

The Kusagakure nins team bounded through the trees, although their objectives weren't the scrolls, but a certain team with an Uchiha that was in possession of a Kekkei Genkai.

"Split up," Orochimaru hissed to his teammates. "We need to find the Uchiha and mark him before the second exam is finished."

Team Gai was flashing through the trees as well. Lee, being eager to meet his combatants, stayed ahead of his team

"Take it easy Lee, the test has only just begun." Neji called out to his teammate.

"That may be, but whoever our opponents are, I want to find them before they find us!" The thought of a certain swordsman, Uchiha, and Uzumaki came to Lee's mind.

'Hmph, you hot-blooded fool.' Neji thought.

* * *

About a mile or so away, Team 7 came to a stop on the forest floor.

"Here is good enough." Sasuke said. "I think it's time we came up with a plan on how we're gonna get that scroll."

"Why don't I just sense out a team, beat'em down and take their scroll?" Trunks asked. That seemed to make enough sense to Sakura and Naruto.

Sasuke shook his head, "There's no doubt that every Genin here will conceal their energy in some way. Go ahead, try to sense out someone, anyone."

The saiyan began spreading his senses out for as far as they would go, which was about three miles. Just as Sasuke said, he couldn't pick up anyone.

"See what I mean? You're gonna have to do this our way." Sasuke said. Trunks nodded. It's not like it would be such a huge problem for the saiyan, after all, this was the very thing Kakashi trained him for.

"So, what's the plan?" Trunks asked the Uchiha.

"I think we should-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Naruto said as he walked up to a nearby tree.

"Uh, Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, cringing at the sound of a zipper being undone.

"I gotta pee." Naruto said plainly before a fist smashed into the back of his head.

"Not in front of me you don't! Go find a bush or something!" Sakura fumed.

With teary eyes Naruto massaged his head and proceeded into the foliage.

The members of Team Seven waited almost impatiently for the Uzumaki to return. The sound of rustling and scuffling was heard before the blonde came out, sporting his foxy grin. "Whew, man I had to go! I managed to write my whole name!"

"Ugh, you are such a pig Naruto!" Sakura berated. Trunks passed a nervous glance to Sasuke, the Uchiha nodding to confirm his worry.

This wasn't Naruto.

Sasuke flashed in front of the impostor before striking him with a hard right hook, sending the phony into the trunk of a tree. The genin wasn't given a break because as soon as his back met the wet bark of the tree, Trunks smashed his knee into his stomach, cracking the bark and making the imposter genin spit up a mouthful of blood before he slumped into the ground.

Sakura watched the event unfold in disturbance, "S-Sasuke, Trunks, i-it wasn't that big of a deal was it?"

"This isn't Naruto." The Uchiha said plainly, making Sakura gasp.

"He's right." Trunks confirmed, "His Ki is different, that tells me everything." The saiyan proceeded to roughly grab the imposter by the back of his head and slam him into the ground onto his back, disrupting the transformation jutsu. What replaced Naruto was a shinobi in a creme colored wetsuit, shadowed eyes that were open in fear, and a breather attached to his face. Trunks planted a knee on the nins chest, keeping the genin flat on his back and unable to move.

The edge of a sword pressed hard against his throat only ensured the enemy genin wouldn't move, unless he'd like his throat opened.

"You've got _five_ seconds to tell me what you did with my friend." Trunks growled.

"..." The shinobi's eyes were wide in fear and he found himself speechless.

Seeing as he wasn't going to talk, Trunks thought, 'Screw it.' Before he ran his blade across the enemy's throat, making blood splash and flow from the wound.

Sasuke cringed while Sakura yelped and shut her eyes before turned the opposite way, not wanting to see the horror of someone dying right in front of her. The pinkette covered her ears so not to hear the gagging sound of the choking shinobi behind her.

Trunks got up and put his sword in the sheath, ignoring the now dead genin's corpse as he walked over him.

"H-Hey, a little help over here!" The sound of Naruto's voice made Sakura and Sasuke gasp before they rushed into the foliage, Trunks following behind them. They were greeted with Naruto trussed up and bound to the ground in ropes, squirming to try and loosen the knots.

Sasuke sighed before throwing a kunai at the edge of the ropes that cut them, allowing the blonde to get free.

"Thanks!" The Uzumaki said happily before hopping to his feet and dusting himself off. "That bastard got me right when I was almost done, so I got a little bit of-"

"We don't need to know that baka!" Sakura interrupted.

Naruto grinned at his crush before turning to Sasuke and Trunks, "So what did you guys do with the guy who attacked me anyways?"

Sasuke and Trunks turned so Naruto could look past them and see the Genin's corpse. Naruto shuddered, "That was taking it a little too far, don't you think?" The blonde asked.

Trunks shrugged it off, "I gave him the chance to talk and he didn't go for it. Besides, that guy would have tried to kill us if he was given the chance."

"Yeah, but-"

"He's right, Naruto. This is an everything goes exam, and everyone's trying to pass. You can't be so soft out here." Sasuke said.

Naruto wanted to have a response, but he didn't have anything to say to that. He settled on nodding his head.

* * *

The group sat around in a circle, deciding it was best to come up with a password in case someone got separated and needed to prove themself friendly.

"When does a ninja strike?" The Uchiha asked the group rhetorically, "A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike. Got it?"

"Got it!" Sakura said. Trunks nodded his response. Naruto gave the Uchiha a displeased look.

"Can't we have something a little shorter?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No, Naruto, thats it."

"Ugh, you're such a blockhead Naruto. Me and Trunks memorized it easily, why can't you?" Sakura scolded.

"I got it, I got it, I just thought it would be a pass _word,_ not a pass _peech."_

As the four stood up, a dreadful feeling began to build up in Trunk's stomach, almost like something bad was going to happen.

They heard something shoot by them and into the darkness behind them. Before they could react a gust a wind funneled through the canopy, sweeping Trunks and Naruto off their feet and away into the forest. Sakura and Sasuke were lucky enough to dodge, mostly due to Sasuke noticing the tensing in Trunks muscles he managed to grab Sakura in time.

About a mile away, the Kusagakure nin stood with his/her teammates, "Fan out into the woods and keep your eyes open. I'll handle this alone."

Sasuke hid under a bush, kunai in hand to attack anyone who may walk by. Sakura was by him too, keeping a close eye out as well. A light gasp escaped her lips at the sound of footsteps against gravel drawing close.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura was hoping Sasuke had a plan for… whoever it was drawing near them. The Uchiha just pressed a finger up to his lips in a silent, 'shhh'. As the footsteps stopped, the Uchiha relaxed before turning back to look from his spot under the bush.

Sasuke's heart nearly stopped as a pair of feet wound up facing right in front of him.

Trunks lied in a daze on the forest floor. The demi-saiyan was thrown about a mile or so away from where his teams last position was. Trunks cursed himself. He _knew_ something bad was going to happen, but he didn't trust his instincts. Had that attack been lethal enough to harm him, Trunks would be dead.

Trunks sat up before rubbing his head. He was going to have to find the rest of his team and Naruto. The saiyan searched for Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's energy. He found Naruto's to be close by while Sasuke and Sakura's were further away.

Wait, something was wrong.

Sasuke's energy was spiking and flickering erratically, meaning he had to be in combat.

Trunks debated with himself; should he help Naruto and then Sasuke? Or should he go straight for Sasuke and hope Naruto was fine?

He decided that Sasuke was always able to hold his own so it would be best to help Naruto first. As he prepared to move, he heard a loud bone chilling hiss boom from behind him. The saiyan slowly turned to see what was quite possibly the largest snake he had ever seen in his life baring down on him.

"Oh, great…"

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were frozen in fear. The Kusa nin out in front of them had cast a genjutsu that made them simulate their own deaths. As the nin pulled out two kunai, preparing to make their fantasy a reality, Sasuke began to struggle.

The Uchiha's hand inched closer to his weapon holster, albeit against his body's wishes. "Come on… come on…" He ordered himself.

The Kusa nin snickered as she prepared to throw the kunai, "Such a shame, I was expecting you to be a little stronger than this." Time seemed to slow down for the sharingan wielding Uchiha. He managed to get his own kunai out of it's holster as the two other kunai slowly raced for him and Sakura. Sasuke let out a cry as he forced his kunai into his right thigh, the pain being enough to break the illusion.

He managed to grab Sakura just as the other kunai shot past where they once stood, sticking into a log that was a fair distance away. Sasuke picked up Sakura bridal style and leaped into the trees in a hasty retreat from the enemy.

The Kusa nin raised an impressed eyebrow at the Uchiha's method of breaking her genjutsu. She chuckled before pursuing him.

* * *

"Trunks! Sasuke! Sakura! Get me outta here!" Naruto cried. The Uzumaki was nothing but a bulge from outside a snakes belly. From inside, the blonde was mashed and compacted between the snakes guts and muscles. Even though he was tempted to keep screaming, he knew that was a bad idea as he would run out of oxygen in the confined and dark space he was in.

'Damn! Seriously, I'm in a forest full of people trying to kill me, and I have to go out being snake chow?' Naruto thought angrily. And what a way to die this would be, digested alive in a place where there was absolutely no light, and where he was limited on air. No, he had to keep fighting. He dug into his holster and pulled out a kunai, digging the blade into the snake's stomach. Unfortunately it was so wet and slippery that the knife slide from his grip. There wasn't a way he would be able to find it in the pitch black environment.

"Fine!" Naruto said to the snake. "Since you don't wanna let me out, you asked for this." He made a handsign.

Trunks had just managed to trace Naruto's energy to the snake that was lying comfortably on the forest floor. The saiyan was hovering in the air above it, staring in horror at the bulge that he knew was Naruto.

"Naruto, don't worry. I'm gonna cut you outta there!" Trunks said as he pulled out his sword. But, before he could make any sudden movements, he noticed the snake was moving strangely. The bulge that was Naruto began to increase in size, swelling up to where it was several times larger than it was before. Then the snakes entire body began to swell up like a water balloon.

A muffled cry reached Trunks's ears.

" **Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!** "

The snake exploded in a wave of blood and guts that nearly covered Trunks. Luckily the saiyan managed to get behind a tree to avoid getting splashed. When the swordsman peeked from behind his cover, he noticed hundreds of Naruto's filling the area the snake once rested.

"Whoa, Naruto!" Trunks exclaimed with a laugh at seeing his slime covered friend. He floated down in front of him just as the clones dispersed. "I guess he got a little more than he bargained for, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that bastard picked the wrong shinobi." Naruto said as he sniffed his hand, his face twisting in revolt.

Trunks covered his nose too, "Ew, you do kind of stink."

Naruto shrugged it off, "Yeah, but I'd rather smell like snake guts now then snake shit in a few weeks." Trunks couldn't argue with that, "But what about you? You didn't get eaten?" Naruto asked.

"One tried, but lets just say that it didn't like it's meal blowing up in its face."

Naruto shuddered before laughing, "To be honest, I kinda wanna see it."

"Heh, maybe later. But now we gotta help Sasuke."

"Got it!" Trunks and Naruto blurred away.

* * *

Sasuke desperately threw a flurry of shuriken that sliced through the snake that just lunged for him. The snakes corpse fell onto a tree branch and lied still, blood running from it's mouth and open wounds.

The Uchiha stood against the bark of a tree, trying to catch his breath. He and Sakura were easily a hundred or so feet above the forest floor, ascending to that height from Sasuke's attempt to flee from the snake behemoths reach. Luckily for Sakura, the Kusa nin was only pursuing Sasuke so she was able to stay safe.

On a small area of the serpents body, the scales on the snakes corpse began to push up and crack apart, an obvious sign that something was coming out of it. Sasuke's eyes widened in fear at the Kusa nin that burst out of the snakes body, smiling up at him.

"Wh-What the hell are you?" Sasuke mumbled. His fear rose as the Grass ninja gave him a snake like smile and licked her lips. The entire fight Sasuke failed to so much as harm her, while she hadn't put in so much as a sliver of effort. Now the Uchiha was almost out of chakra. And the grass nin knew that.

Like a snake her body stretched and coiled around a tree branch, intending to close the distance between Sasuke and finish him off.

"D-Damn it!" Sasuke ground out in fear and anger.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, hoping to get her crush to at least move.

Just as the Kusa nin was about to reach Sasuke's position, a blur slammed into her, knocking her from the tree branch and sending her down to the forest floor.

Sasuke's eyes widened in wonder. He looked up to see it was Naruto who struck the Kusa nin, having caught her completely off guard. The blonde looked to his shell shocked friend. "What do you know, looks like me and Trunks showed up just in time."

The Uchiha noticed Trunks float down next to the Uzumaki on his team. Sasuke smirked. 'Leave it to Naruto to show up right in the nick of time.'

"Kukuku, well, well. To think that a mere genin has managed to catch me off guard." Team 7 looked down to see the Grass shinobi was on her feet, having shrugged off a fall of about 100 feet. The smile on her face showed that she was more amused by that fact than anything.

Trunks's eyes narrowed, "Wait a minute, I know her." He mumbled as he got a good look at the Kusa shinobi.

Both Naruto and Sasuke managed to hear him. "Wait, what!? How the hell could you know that thing?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He called her a 'thing', simply because he refused to refer to her as a female.

"I sat next to her during the written test. I don't know her name or anything, but she kinda creeped me the hell out." Trunks said.

Apparently, even from 100 feet down on the forest floor the grass nin was able to hear them, "Ah yes, I remember you as well. It would also appear that both of you managed to survive my little friends."

The realization dawned on Trunks and Naruto that those weren't just _any_ snakes that attacked them. It was _her_ snakes that she sent after them.

Trunks flashed his aura, showing that he was powering up to the max that his base form could handle. This caused a glint of curiosity to form on the Kusa nins face.

Naruto prepared to form his kage bunshins, but Trunks stopped him. "Naruto, you're gonna have to stay out of this."

"Why would I do that? You really wanna take that creep on by yourself?" Naruto asked.

Trunks turned to Naruto so the blond would know he was being serious, "Naruto, trust me, that shinobi down there… is no genin."

"What?"

"Her power level is even greater than Kakashi's. Hell, I'll even go as far as saying she's stronger than me." Trunks said which made Naruto's eyes widen in disbelief.

"He's telling the truth Naruto." Sasuke said bitterly. "When I fought her she toyed around with me as if I was a defenseless child. You wouldn't stand a chance."

Despite having his pride damaged at being told he wouldn't be of use in a fight, Naruto backed down. "Fine, but Trunks, if I see you need help, then I'm jumping in whether you like it or not."

The tone in the Uzumaki's voice told the saiyan that his words were absolute. That's what he always liked about Naruto, when it came to helping his friends, there was nothing that could hold him back. "Deal." Trunks said.

The saiyan then set his sights on the Kusa nin on the forest floor, before charging down at her in a blue flame.

* * *

A/N: Trunks vs Orochimaru next chapter.


	15. Snakes and Monkeys

A/N: Trunks vs Orochimaru begins in; three… two… one!

XXXXX

The Demi-saiyan charged down at the Kusa-nin in a raging blue flame. The speed at which he flew breaking the sound barrier, causing a crack of thunder to erupt behind him. As he closed the distance to the Kusa nin he threw out a right hook that she put her arms up to block. A surprised look appeared on her face, underestimating the force behind the punch as she was blasted off of her feet and thrown through about six or more trees. The giants collapsed to the ground, the crashing being loud enough for most of Konoha to hear.

"Whoa…" Naruto said in amazement. The expressions on Sasuke and Sakura's faces showed similar emotions. Never before had they seen Trunks just slug someone with all his might; and from the looks of things, the results were brutal.

Trunks stood panting on the ground, fist still extended. The fiery blue aura of Ki still wrapped around his body, showing that he wasn't even close to giving it his all.

The demi-saiyan could still sense her ki, "Come out, I know that didn't kill you."

There was a moment of silence, before a heavy chuckle echoed through the air, seemingly having no origin. The laughter seemed to be coming from all around Team Seven, with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura being able to hear it as clearly as if the person laughing was sitting right next to them. Trunks glanced all around him, before he turned to the sound of leaves crackling, "Kukuku, 'I do lots of push ups and sit-ups and drink lots of juice'." She mocked the saiyan as she made her presence known. She walked casually over the bed of fallen trees. Most of her face was shadowed from the limited amount of sunlight that shined into the forest. The few rays of light that caught the Kusa-nins face allowed Trunks a view of her left eye, that of which was a different color than that of when Trunks first saw it. The grass-nins eye was golden with a slit in the center, only giving her even more of a snake-like countenance. "Now I believe I've been deceived. There's more to your strength than just that." Trunks's eyes widened as the Kusa-nin came close enough to where he could see her face clearly. What he saw was rather disturbing.

The grass-nins face was wrinkled and creased up, reminiscent of an crumbled piece of paper. The flesh around her left eye was peeled away, revealing a patch of gray skin underneath. The eye itself had a tracing of a purple marking around it, most of it being covered by the false layer of flesh.

"What the hell are you?" Trunks asked as he took a fighting stance.

The grass nins mouth didn't move as she laughed, or was it _he_ laughed, because that voice was too deep to be considered feminine. What she did next was place her fingers at the edge of her jawline, and _peel_ her own face right off, revealing a man with golden eyes, long purple markings around his eyes that descended down the sides of his nose, sickly pale skin, and long black hair. He let the skin that served as a mask flutter from his hand as if it were a sheet of paper.

The man then swiped a hand over his forehead protector, the grass symbol changing to that of a musical note.

"Now that you've seen my true face, I suppose I should tell you that my name… is Orochimaru." The mans voice was strangely soothing, almost velvetty. "Now I think I caught that your name was Trunks?"

He didn't know why, but the saiyan found himself giving a slight nod. Trunks could sense the power difference between them, and he was intimidated. Very intimidated. This man's level of power made both Kakashi and Zabuza's look like a joke, and Trunks at his base was only about as strong as either of them. He wouldn't dare try to transform now, the time it would take would only leave him vulnerable for whatever attack Orochimaru wanted to dish out.

"Hm." The sannin grinned and tilted his head. In the instance it took Trunks to blink, the man was right in front of him.

Trunks was sent soaring back by a hard fist to his face. With white vision he couldn't see the sannin race up to catch him, grabbing him by his face and slamming the back of his head into the ground.

"Trunks!" Naruto and Sakura shouted. Naruto prepared to hop down and get involved but Sasuke snatched him by the back of his collar.

"What the hell are you doing Sasuke?! Trunks needs our help!" Naruto shouted to his rival.

"No he doesn't. Just look." Sasuke said, not taking his eyes off the battle taking place below him.

Orochimaru held up the saiyan by his head, bringing him up to eye level with the sannin. The force of the impact made a nice sized crater around where he was standing. Trunks, with his eyes still shut, held an open hand up to the sannins stomach. Orochimaru caught a glimpse of a strange yellow light shine from the boy's palm. Before he could react something exploded from the teens hand and launched the sannin back, at the same time releasing Trunks from his grip.

The saiyan shook his head, trying to rid himself of the dizziness and lightheadedness that he felt. Orochimaru seemed unfazed by Trunks' attack, as he was waving away the ash and dust particles that littered his shirt. He seemed to have an amused and curious look etched to his features, "My my, just what sort of attack was that?"

"..." Trunks wasn't going to answer any of his questions.

"No answer? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you." The sannin vanished.

Trunks flinched and glanced around, searching for any sign of the sannin. Feeling a presence behind him, he barely had enough time to turn around and cross his arms as the sannins heels slammed into them, the force knocking Trunks back. The saiyan caught himself, the soles of his feet tapping against a tree before launching himself at the sannin.

Orochimaru decided to meet the survivor halfway over the forest floor and begin trading blows, the two practically disappearing from the eyes of team 7.

Shockwaves began erupting all around Team Kakashi, the brawl of the two titans causing trees to shatter and craters to appear on the forest floor. Sasuke, with his active Sharingan, was able to pick up on two black streaks that danced around, clashing together and splitting apart before meeting at another point of the forest.

He saw that one of the streaks was considerably faster than the other, and would force the smaller streak back more often than not which also made Sasuke assume that the faster streak was also stronger.

Sasuke could only pray that the faster streak was Trunks.

The Team turned as a large tree practically exploded into woodchips. Only the top part though, the bottom was leveled and flattened enough for Orochimaru to appear on the stump, standing tall and with a few tears and gashes in his clothing, a few bruises could be noticed on his face and arms but they were few and far between. His breathing appeared to be just a bit leveled, but not to the point that it seemed he was exhausted.

His gaze traveled over to the Genin team of Kakashi, who gasped as Trunks suddenly popped into existence right in front of them, hovering in the air and keeping his gaze trained on the sannin. They noticed his condition was _much_ worse for wear than that of Orochimaru's.

Trunks had cuts and bruises littering his face and the visible skin on his arms and legs. A particularly nasty gash ran down his left cheek, covering the surface in blood. There were tears and gashes apparent all throughout his clothing, one tore so deep that it revealed his hard left peck.

With labored breathing, Trunks rubbed his forearm against his cheek, wiping up the splash of blood that was revealed because of his cut. 'Damn, I can't keep up with him. I _need_ to transform , but I'm not gonna be given the chance.' He thought. He turned to his friends and teammates, 'And if I can't stop this guy, then they're screwed.'

Orochimaru smiled up at the Demi-saiyan and chuckled, "Kukuku, I must hand it to you Trunks-kun, never has a genin been able to battle with me as you have. You should be proud. But still, you know that you cannot beat me so why continue?"

"Is that even a question?" Trunks asked. "You know that if I back down you'd just kill us. I'm no fool, and something tells me that if we try to run, you'll just hunt us down."

The sannin shrugged nonchalantly, "That is only _semi_ -true. You see, I'm here not for your scroll, but for a certain one of your teammates." His eyes trailed up to a certain Uchiha in the group, who noticed the sannins gaze.

Sasuke grew scared, he began backing up until his back pressed against the bark of the tree whose branch he stood on. Orochimaru grinned before saying to Trunks, "I'll be just a minute." Before his body literally _sank_ into the stump he stood upon.

Naruto panicked, "Wh-Where'd he go?" His eyes shot around, searching for the snake man. Sakura and Trunks were doing much the same thing. Sasuke wouldn't dare move from his spot. He knew that Orochimaru was after him, and he didn't want to put himself clear in the open so he could do whatever it was he was trying to do to him.

Unknown to the Uchiha, two arms slowly slithered from out of tree and encircled tightly around him, holding him still. As the Uchiha cried out, Sakura, Naruto, and Trunks' watched helplessly as a head came out of the bark. Orochimaru's head.

Sasuke screamed in agony as two fangs sank deep into his neck, almost like a vampire.

"Sasuke!" Naruto, Sakura, and Trunks yelled. The Uchiha was released, dropping to his knees and squirming as his body felt as if it were on fire.

Trunks joined Naruto and Sakura who gathered around the pained Sasuke's body. The pinkettes green eyes grew teary as she took in the Uchihas condition. A large blue welt sprung up from the area he was bit, with two small visible rivulets of blood flowing from under his hand that was covering the wound. When Sakura tried placing hands on the raven haired Genin he let out a loud and pained scream.

Naruto's hands clenched tight and his teeth grit shut. The blue in his eyes bled to red as they trailed to the sannin who appeared on a branch across from them, "What... What the hell did you do to him?" Naruto growled, his voice becoming much more feral and his whisker marks becoming much more thicker.

"Hm, I just left him with a little gift was all. A gift that not very many people survive after receiving, that is." Orochimaru said casually.

A red aura of chakra exploded around Naruto, bathing the blonde in it.

"What the, what is that?" Trunks and Sakura asked themselves. Trunks then came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the fox that was inside Naruto. The sinister feel of the chakra practically gave that away. The air grew warm, very warm. To the point where even Orochimaru could feel the heat radiating off of the blonde.

'So he's the Jinchuuriki.' Orochimaru thought to himself.

"Trunks," the Uzumaki's voice came off as a feral growl that chilled Sakura to the bone. Was this Naruto? The blond passed the Demi-saiyan a side glance, "you better hurry up and transform." The Uzumaki unexpectedly leaped out at the sannin, the force and power of his chakra leaving a print of the sole of his shoe etched clear into the bark of the tree branch

Trunks wasted no time. He put some distance between himself and Sakura before building up his ki, the blue flame surrounding him once more. Memories of all of the innocent lives he's seen destroyed began flooding his head. The innocent men, women, and children that were mercilessly slaughtered, Sasuke's injured and possibly dying form, the death of his master Gohan filling him with rage that turned his irises green.

Naruto threw a punch that the sannin swiftly dodged. Orochimaru hopped back onto another branch, watching as Naruto pursued him. "I'll kill you for what you did to Sasuke!" The Uzumaki roared in near blind rage. The fact that the Uzumaki was so angry and as a result fought so poorly made the sannin chuckle. He hadn't even tried to go on the offensive with the Kyuubi brat, he was just evading the blondes punches as if it were child's play. He couldn't deny the boost in strength the Uzumaki gained though, one punch that the Uzumaki threw managed to crack a tree in half. If he did manage to hit him, Orochimaru would definitely feel it.

Growing tired of this game of dodge, Orochimaru decided to stop evading and snatch up the Uzumaki with his tongue. With the long and slippery appendage wrapped around his ankle and hanging him helplessly upside down, Naruto was slung extremely hard into a nearby tree, breaking the flow of chakra that the Uzumaki was receiving and rendering him half-unconscious. The snake man then brought Naruto up closer to him before pulling down his shirt, revealing a strange-looking swirling tattoo on his stomach. The sannins fingers grew outlined in a purple-chakra flame.

Before he could slam his fingers into the blondes stomach, a loud and guttural yell tore through the air, followed by the sound of something exploding.

Orochimaru's head snapped to his left, noticing the phenomena coming from the Briefs boy.

Sasuke, who was just beginning to slip into unconsciousness from within Sakura's arms, was able to catch a glimpse of spiky gold hair. 'Trunks… what are you?...' Were his last thoughts before darkness overtook him.

The snake sannin stared dumbfoundedly at the super saiyan, trying to piece together just what kind of transformation that could have been. The boys once blue eyes were now green, his silky lavender hair was now a tide of spikes, the once blue aura that hugged his body was now gold and spread further out, on top of that his muscles were now larger than they were before. The snake fiend had never seen anything like it. He almost flinched in fear as the boys now hardened eyes focused solely on him.

Deciding he couldn't waste his time on the Uzumaki, he flicked the now unconscious boy away with his tongue, letting him plummet to the forest floor.

Sakura gasped, 'He won't survive that fall!' She pulled out a kunai and threw it at the Uzumaki, managing to catch him by his jacket back and hang him from a tree trunk. "Got him!" Sakura said, proud that she saved her friend.

"Nice shot." The Brief boy said. The casualness in his voice told Sakura that if she missed he would have still been able to save him. His voice now contained a much more serious tone to it, the rough and raspy tone that she heard during the battle of the bridge began to surface, "Sakura, I want you to take Sasuke and Naruto and get as far away from here as you as you can."

Realizing that she would be nothing more than excess baggage, she gathered up Sasuke and prepared to grab Naruto.

Trunks kept his eyes on the sannin, making sure that if the man moved a muscle he would be ready to blow him to hell. The sannin also kept his eyes on the saiyan, making sure if he moved an inch he could explode into action.

As the kunoichi grabbed the blonde of her team, she began bounding away into the deeper recesses of the forest. As she hopped through the trees, she turned her head back to see the light of Trunks's aura was still noticeable. She smiled to herself, 'That bastard better watch out, because he's dealing with a super saiyan now.' She knew that Trunks would be alright, and she knew that he would take down that snake creep. She began picking up speed, hoping to get herself as far away from the battle that was sure to get messy.

Trunks and Orochimaru watched as Sakura's form disappeared further into the forest. Their gazes locking again.

Trunks smirked, "So, you ready for round two?" The saiyan asked as he unsheathed his sword.

Orochimaru grinned, "It's a sword fight you want, yes?" He leaned his head back and opened his mouth wide. A hand descended down his throat before pulling out a sword. "Let's see just who's superior in this bout."

The two clashed swords, the sound of metal clanging together as they became blurs that danced over the woodland area.

Although the Kusanagi was capable of cutting through almost anything, it was with Trunks super saiyan energy that kept the snakes sword from slicing through his.

Trunks swung his blade and managed to cut a gash in the snake man's robe, surprising him with the impressive amount of skill he displayed. Too bad the sannin's skill was still immensely superior, more experience and such. Orochimaru swung his blade down in an arc, one that would bisect Trunks if he wasn't careful. Luckily the saiyan put up his sword and blocked the incoming strike.

The two began pushing at each other with their swords. Orochimaru grew even more surprised at how his strength was no longer vastly superior to the teenager, but that the saiyan was at least dead even with his own.

Trunks knew that he wouldn't be pushing back the sannin, so he settled on letting one hand go free and activate a ki blast into the sannins stomach, blasting the man back and off the branch they stood on.

As the sannin free fell Trunks began charging his ki into his sword, **'** **Lightning Sword Slash!'** The saiyan swung his sword sending out several blades of energy scything after Orochimaru.

The sannin saw the energy blades coming for him and began maneuvering his lanky body to avoid them. As he narrowly dodged the last one and landed on the ground he turned to see that a whole family of trees were just sliced apart and cleanly leveled. It was a bit nerve wracking to the sannin, knowing that if he was hit that could have been him.

His eyes traveled up to the saiyan, finding him floating in the air and panting as if he were low on breath. But the sannin knew that the boy wasn't completely spent, if that were the case then he probably would have lost that little transformation he held.

"That is quite the transformation. May I ask what it is called?" The sannin asked.

"I don't feel inclined to tell you." The saiyan said smugly.

Orochimaru shrugged, "It doesn't matter. All of your secrets will come to light eventually."

" _Sure_ they will." Trunks said sarcastically, his tone of voice grating on the sannins nerves even though he wouldn't show it.

Once again swords clashed, this time with Trunks being the one to strike at Orochimaru. The force of the impact caused a crater to appear in the ground around the two.

The arms of the two swordsman blurred as the two moved lightning fast, trying to score some kind of significant hit. Trunks was nicked in the arms a few times by Orochimaru's sword, but he wasn't able to feel the cuts with the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

The sannin kicked away the saiyan. Trunks came to a stop and held out his left hand, " **Burning,"** A blue sphere appeared in the boys hand, prompting Orochimaru to prepare a counter Jutsu,

 **"Ninpou!"**

" **Storm!"** A barrage of energy spheres shot out of the teens hand and raced for the sannin who managed to finish his last hand sign just in time,

 **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"** A massive iron gate with a demonic face etched into the double doors sprang from the ground in front of the sannin. The energy blasts shot into the door, not breaking through, but warping the metal and leaving several deep dents behind before they dispersed.

"Damn!" Trunks cursed, his attack completely failed to penetrate the sannins jutsu. And what was worse, he was running out of energy. And what was even _worse,_ he could sense dozens of other energy signatures heading his way, meaning that other genin taking the exam caught wind of the battle taking place.

'I don't have much time. I'm gonna have to wrap this up quickly.' The saiyan noticed the abused gate sink back into the ground. Orochimaru, obviously hadn't been harmed in the slightest outside of the cuts and bruises that littered the man's face and body.

The sannin couldn't deny that the saiyans tenacity was beginning to piss him off, but, he couldn't deny that he was one of the more interesting genin he had ever fought against. He may actually consider having another body other than Sasuke's.

The thought caused a fanged grin to spread across his face. His elongated neck shot after the saiyan.

XXXXXX

On the outskirts of the forest of death, a Buddha statue sat covered in blood. In front of it lied three blood splattered corpses. Only, something was off about them.

"I can't believe it," Anko started, "Their faces are missing." She had been called in to observe by a group of Chunin.

"I've never seen anything like it, there's nothing where there faces used to be. It's like they just melted or something." One of the Chunin pointed out.

Anko slowly began to gain a strong sense of realization. She felt the edge of her neck where her curse mark resided. She knew exactly who did this. And she was gonna make him pay!

Anko turned to the other shinobi. She pointed at one of them and began barking orders. "You, go to the Hokage and tell him exactly what we saw! Then tell him to send in an Anbu black ops squad into the forest of death after me!" Without another word, Anko took off into the forest.

XXXXXX

For the third time Trunks sent Orochimaru's neck twisting around like a spring. The sannin was hellbent on biting Trunks like he did Sasuke, but the young super saiyan wouldn't allow it. As Orochimaru stopped to readjust his neck from Trunks's punch, the sound of bones crackling filling the air, the saiyan wasted no time and charged in to land a mountain splitting punch, making the sannin fold over onto the teenagers fist.

Trunks felt a moment of satisfaction that quickly wore off when the sannins body melted into a pile of liquid clay.

' _Again,_ with the substitutions. I'm really getting annoyed with that!' Trunks groaned in his head. He began scanning the forest floor for the sannin, pivoting around on his feet so he wouldn't get caught by surprise. There couldn't be very many places for the snake man to hide, Trunks was down on the forest floor and from the looks of things, he and Orochimaru had leveled most of the forest ground for several kilometers across. The ground was actually covered in craters, leaves, sawdust, and woodchips from all of the trees that were destroyed.

His senses were slammed by the sannins energy coming _right from the ground below his feet_. He shot into the air as two hands burst from the ground where his ankles were. The sannin then rose from the dirt as if it were a lake.

Orochimaru tilted his head up at the saiyan who appeared to be now completely exhausted. He was sweating like a pig and breathing like he just ran around the world and back. The cut to his cheek had stopped bleeding and clotted some time ago, the other cuts and bruises that covered his body had multiplied as the fight dragged on. His track jacket was so shredded that he had decided to discard it, leaving him in his black t-shirt that also had gashes and holes in it.

Even though the sannin took a heavy beating over the course of the fight, having gained a near similar amount of cuts and bruises, it didn't matter. Because the sannin had shed his skin just a little while ago, leaving him brand new with the only difference being a severe depletion of his chakra. "You're exhausted Trunks-kun, I can tell." The sannin told the saiyan, another snake-like grin made its way onto his features, "You also know as well as I, that you cannot defeat me. That transformation may be enough to help you keep up with my strength and speed, but you're simply too young. You lack enough battle experience. You lack a good _teacher."_ The snake sannin stretched the last word as a means to allude Trunks.

Trunks appeared to be thinking, before he sighed and smiled, "Well, you're right about a few things. I am out of energy." The super saiyan form melted from his body, "Almost!" Trunks arms flashed around in a blur, " **Burning Attack!"** A yellow star of energy shot from the saiyans outstretched hands and down at Orochimaru.

The sannin dodged the star itself but the explosion knocked him off his feet, also picking up a wave of dirt and dust that obscured Orochimaru's view.

After the dust cloud settled, Orochimaru looked around, only to notice Trunks was gone.

The thought that a genin managed to not only go toe to toe with him in combat, but also give him of all people the slip, was enough to make him scream in rage. A _boy_ managed to take him, the most powerful of the sannin, on and live to tell the tale. The man looked up to the sky to see that it was now orange, meaning it would now be sunset soon.

He stopped and chuckled, "It doesn't matter now, does it Trunks-kun. I'll mark you eventually." He sunk into the ground, his voice coming off as a echo, " _I always get what I want_."

XXX

Anko's curse seal was on fire. The deeper into the forest she went the more she could feel of her old sensei's presence. Not too far behind her was a small convoy of Anbu Black Op members. As she trekked closer to the area where her old sensei's chakra was the strongest, she noticed that the forest grew increasingly more destroyed.

Eventually she had to come to a stop, and when she did she gasped at the aftermath of the battle. Uprooted and destroyed trees, smoking and smoldering craters, and wood pulp littered the forest floor.

"Goodness, what happened here?" An Anbu asked as he caught up to the snake jonin. The others had similar thoughts.

"I guess someone threw down with Orochimaru." Anko said, more intrigued than angry at the fact that the snake bastard got away, "If they're alive, they have no idea how lucky they are."

Xxxxxxx

The sun was now set over the forest of death, leaving the woods a near pitch-black dark. Sakura had managed to find refuge under a partly uprooted tree some time ago. There had been enough space underneath to place Sasuke and Naruto's unconscious forms. Now, the pinkette waited anxiously for the swordsman of her team to make a return.

A startled gasp escaped Sakura's lips at the sound of a rustling coming from nearby bushes. She almost instinctively threw a kunai only to see the shadow of a chipmunk scurry out of it. She sighed, 'Come on, keep it together Sakura. The last thing you wanna do is screw around and give your position away. Especially when you've got two wounded teammates.' She turned behind her to take a glance at Naruto and Sasuke's unconscious forms.

Naruto was snoozing like a baby. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a totally different picture. A sheen of sweat covered the Uchihas skin, soaking into his cloths as well. His skin turned a sickly pale as well, backed up by the raven haired boys strained and pained wheezing. Sakura had placed a wet towel on the boy's head in an attempt to control his fever, but judging by how soaked his clothes were now, it didn't seem to be helping.

She turned back to the outside, growing increasingly anxious once again, 'Where are you Trunks, it's been hours now. Surely it wouldn't take you _this_ long to beat that creep.' That's when another more darker thought hit her. What if Trunks _didn't_ win? What if Orochimaru killed him? What if her crush was lying lifeless on the forest floor while Orochimaru was out looking for her? The thoughts sent a chill down her spine, making her knees tremble and her hands shake, "Please be okay Trunks. Please please _please_ be okay." She begged.

Her heart stopped at the sound of a heavy rustling coming from the bushes and foliage. She gripped her kunai tight, so tight that she could hear the skin of her palm strain against the metal of the hilt. As the rustling grew more and more aggressive, she shut her eyes in fear, which she knew was a foolish thing to do, but her dread got the better of her.

"S...Sakura."

Her eyes snapped open at the tired voice. She saw it was the saiyan that she was waiting for stumbling out of the wooded foliage. He was slouched over from exhaustion and covered in battle scars. "Trunks-kun!" Sakura ran over and hugged the saiyan, making him yelp in pain. That made Sakura let go and let out a sheepish 'sorry', before letting go. After taking in his condition, she almost hissed, "Wow, you really took a thrashing huh?"

Trunks let out a weak laugh, "You have no idea." A fist crashed into the back of his skull, courtesy of Sakura. "Owww, what was that for?" Trunks whined. Now he knew how Naruto felt, Sakura could punch!

"That was for worrying me to death you Baka!" Sakura scolded, "You stay behind to fight a creepy snake whack job, and then you don't come back all day. Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

Now that Trunks thought about it, he was gone for a pretty long time. The sun was at its highest in the sky when he started the exam, and when he last checked his watch, it was well past 9, meaning he was gone for at least 9 hours. "I guess you have a point. Sorry. I think the reason it took so long was because I had to walk. And since I was out of energy, I had to dodge other teams so I didn't get my ass kicked."

After hearing that explanation, Sakura felt a little bad about punching him, "Well, you'll be okay now. I found shelter." She guided him to her spot under the tree. Upon entering, Trunks sorely laid down, trying to relax his exhausted and beaten body. His eyes traveled to Sasuke,

"How's he holding up?" Trunks asked, even though his answer was pretty obvious.

Sakura used the sheet of moss on the side of the tree as a curtain, shielding the team from view. She answered without turning to him, "He... He's not much better." Sakura said, her shoulders slouching. "The swelling from the bite went down. A little. Other than that, I'd say he's gotten _worse."_ The pinkette turned to the Uchiha, lip trembling the longer she looked him over. She turned to Trunks who was lying down next to Naruto, "So, what happened to Orochimaru? Did you... you know?"

Trunks found himself unable to look at the pinkette. His gaze went straight up to the moss and root covered roof of their shelter, "No, I didn't. I Lost." He heard Sakura gasp. "As a super saiyan we were about even, but he was the better fighter than me. That was a fact, and he knew it. If I went on any longer, he might've killed me."

That thought scared her. She hadn't gotten to see just what _exactly_ Trunks was capable of as a super saiyan, but there was just something about the display of it that made it seem godlike. And if Orochimaru was capable of besting Trunks, even in his transformation, then she knew that was something to fear.

"Anyways," Trunks turned over to get in a resting position, "I'm spent. I really hate to tell you this Sakura, but as I am, I'm about as harmful as a kitten. You're on your own until Naruto wakes up." The saiyan closed his eyes, letting his body savor it's well deserved rest. In a matter of seconds he was out like a light.

Sakura wanted to say something, to beg him to stay up with her. But that would be selfish, she knew that. She knew that to ask of anything from her team would be selfish, especially since they were doing all of the fighting. She sighed before moving to peek from the moss curtain, just to make sure there were no nearby enemies.

But, although she looked, she failed to notice the three pairs of eyes staring at her from their position upon a tall tree branch.

"Heh, look at her. That dumb broad has no idea what's going on." Said a rough looking teenager with spiked up hair. He gave off an air that he carried a bad reputation and he knew it. The teenagers name was Zaku.

A member of his team, a bandaged up man with a strange metal gauntlet on his right hand, said "What an amateur. We've been here for a while and she's still failed to notice us. And from the look of it, at least one of her teammates is down." His name was Dosu. One could say he was reminiscent of a mummy, with only one eye visible under his wrappings.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's finish our mission." A girl with long black hair said. Her hair was actually _too_ long, especially considering its length went down past her waist. A small bow at the end kept it all together. She moved to hop down from the branch, but Dosu's gauntleted arm blocked her.

"No Kin, not yet. They may have Uchiha Sasuke with them, and we don't need to face them without knowing what each of them are capable of." Dosu said.

"So what do you want us to do?" Zaku said irritably.

"We wait."

XXX

Sakura couldn't help but think back on what Trunks said earlier. She was all alone, and her teammates were counting on _her_ to protect them while they were down. Her green eyes narrowed before gazing over her resting teammates.

'I won't let you down guys, I _promise_.' She swore in her head.

A fighter, she was not, and she knew that. But, she knew damn well she could lay down a decent trap. She pulled out a kunai and some wire, before getting to work.

Xxxxxxx

A/N: And there we end it! I honestly had a bit of a hard time with this fight. I think it's because I don't have enough experience writing big fight scenes, but I'll let you guys tell me your opinion in a review. Now, I wanna make clear that Trunks' super saiyan state in my story is around sannin level, but the deciding factor with that fight was that the snake bastard was the more skilled and experienced fighter. If I were to take Super saiyan future Gohan, Vegeta, Goku, or Piccolo, then they would have stomped Orochimaru, because they were skilled fighters with plenty of experience.

But that's all I got, see you next time!


	16. Sound Showdown

A/N: Hopefully I'll be done with the forest of death next chapter and we can move onto the preliminaries. In the meantime, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

* * *

Sakura's eyes grew heavy as time flew by. She had sat keeping watch for several hours now, having had no choice considering her teammates were unconscious. With one hand being used to keep the moss curtain slightly opened, just enough to allow her to peek outside, she used her free hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, yawning as she did.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't complain. For one, it would be pointless, another thing, she wanted to prove that she was capable of taking care of her team when they needed her. That's why she had spent several hours laying down traps for anyone who dared intrude on their camp. Lucky for her, no one showed up.

Despite this, she couldn't help but feel as though she were being watched.

* * *

The forest was silent through the night. While earlier, in the daytime, it had been filled with the screams of dying Genin, and the explosions coming from Trunks and Orochimaru's battle, things began to settle down. Most teams put off their search in favor of setting up camp, while other more restless teams continued to search fruitlessly in the dead of night.

A certain red haired sand ninja, after mercilessly slaughtering a team of Genin, found himself bored. His team had found their desired scroll after an encounter with some rain ninja a while back, which meant that they should have been making their way to the tower.

But Gaara didn't want to.

He wanted to find a certain team. A team that held an Uchiha and a lavender haired swordsman. Ever since the day he met them Gaara's interest in them grew. He knew they were strong, and that's why he needed to find them. It felt almost, obsessive.

A painful throbbing pulsed through his head, making Gaara clutch his temple with both hands, grunting as he did.

He stood up and began walking, the leaves and twigs breaking under his feet stirring his siblings awake.

Temari sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "Gaara, where are you going?"

Without turning his back the teen drawled, "Taking a walk. Don't follow me." He continued into the darkness of the forest.

Kankuro had no interest in whatever it was his brother was doing, so he went back to sleep. Temari watched as Gaara's form disappeared from sight.

The sand Jinchuuriki walked. Maybe if he was lucky he would come across another trio of Genin to feed his mother.

And if he was really lucky, he may just find Team 7.

* * *

The hours dragged on, making the night seem long. But, before anyone knew it, the sun was rising, allowing its rays to filter into the forest, giving it just a bit of seeing light for the examinees.

Sakura blinked awake, noticing herself sprawled out on the ground next to Sasuke. She sat up and wiped away the drool that pooled out of her mouth, leaving a tiny puddle in the dirt. Cursing herself, having come to the conclusion that she passed out at some point, sat up and checked Trunks's watch, the Demi-saiyan still out like a light. The digital green numbers displayed '7:05', meaning it was still very early in the morning.

She looked at Naruto and Sasuke, noticing the latter's condition was still poor. Sakura glanced under his collar, observing the strange bruise that formed in the area where Sasuke was bitten. There were three black tomoe marks encircling each other right at the base of his neck, the area of the skin still red from the broken capillaries underneath. She put a hand up to his cheek and flinched. It felt almost as hot as an iron. From the look of things, his fever was only getting worse, and she didn't think there was a way to help him. And that thought pained her.

The way things were going, they may not even finish this exam.

She hoped Trunks and Naruto would wake up soon so the three of them could discuss how to handle Sasuke, but it didn't seem like that was gonna happen.

'Why does being a shinobi have to be so hard.' Sakura silently complained, burying her face in her hands as she did. It was then she heard the sound of rustling leaves coming from outside. Sakura pulled out a kunai and held it tightly in her grip, peeking from the moss curtain she noticed a set of bushes lurching as three figures exited.

"Well, you're not a very good lookout, are you?" Dosu sneered as his team made themselves known. Knowing she had been seen, Sakura decided to step out into the open, kunai still in hand. "Falling asleep when your team is incapacitated? That's mighty irresponsible. And what's worse, you've failed to notice that you've been watched the entire night."

Although she didn't show it, that fact chilled Sakura to the bone. Had these guys wanted to test their luck, they may have been able to kill her and her team in their sleep.

Zaku cracked his knuckles, smirking as he did, "Why don't you tell us where Sasuke is? If you do, we might just spare you, blondie, and pretty boy."

Sakura inwardly growled, 'I'm not letting you jerks lay a hand on them!' She prepared to throw her kunai but she stopped herself. There was one thing she had to ask before she initiated battle, "What do you guys want? I mean, what do you really want? I know that Orochimaru's calling the shots from the shadows." The surprised looks on the sound nins faces hit the nail on the head for Sakura, "I bet you jerks also know what that mark is on Sasuke's neck. And now you cowards wanna fight him when he can't defend himself?!"

Dosu's one eye widened in shock, 'What could that crazy bastard be thinking?'

"Tsk, you think I'm just gonna sit still while you talk that kind of smack about us?" Zaku stepped up, "I think I'm gonna kill you first, and then I'll waste your other teammates."

As Zaku prowled forward, Dosu noticed an odd looking patch of grass that stood out against the rest, and the roguish boy was about to step right into it, "Zaku, wai-" But he was too late.

Zaku's foot came down on the misplaced patch of grass, making Sakura smirk. The sound nins stopped and brought their guard up as the sound of something snapping filled the air.

Sakura leapt to the side as a crunching and crashing noise sounded from above. Zaku and his team glanced up in unison, eyes widening in horror as a colossal sized tree trunk came tumbling down, breaking through limbs and bouncing against the trunks of the trees it was near. Making it near unpredictable in where it would land.

Zaku thrust up his hands, and the tree just shattered. The pinkette shielded her eyes from the rain of woodchips that rained from the sky.

'What was that?' Sakura thought.

Kin grinned, "Nice try beauty queen, now we're gonna kill you." The three sound nin leaped at the kunoichi, who knew that her chances of taking the three of them were slim. Still, Sakura pulled out a trio of shuriken for each hand and threw them, the stars slicing through the air and streaking at the three sound nin.

'Hmph,' Dosu thought arrogantly as he held out his braced arm, making the metal stars deflect back from some invisible force.

"No way!" Sakura cried. Now she was practically dead. Time seemed to slow as the sound nin descended down on the kunoichi, who pulled out a kunai in what would be a final act of defiance. She shut her eyes.

 **"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Sakura's eyes widened to three orange blurs slamming into the three sound ninja, knocking Zaku and Kin to the ground and Dosu back, although he managed to catch himself and land on his feet.

Dumbfounded, Sakura stared slackjawed at the back of the familiar figure standing right in front of her. The orange and blue jacket, short and spiky blonde hair, and a confident stance. The figure turned, giving her a warm smile before grinning, "Hey Sakura, need a hand?"

"N-Naruto? But how, I mean, you were unconscious." The pinkette asked. The blondes clones landed next to him before dispersing.

"I woke up, simple as that." Naruto casually said, giving a slight shrug as he did. "Trunks is still out, but I think I'm more than capable of handling these clowns." Naruto said as he faced the sound nin.

Zaku angrily stood up, his pride having taken a blow at being caught off guard. "You fuckin punk, now you just pissed me off!" He barked as he held out his hands. One could see two small holes in the center of his palms.

An cocky smirk crossed Naruto's features, "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

"Your smug for someone who's outnumbered." Dosu said.

"Am I outnumbered?" Naruto asked sarcastically before he made a hand sign, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Six clones appeared alongside Naruto and charged into battle.

Dosu shook his head in disappointment before holding out his arms, the clones falling to their knees and crying out before they dispersed.

Naruto blinked, 'What was that?' He couldn't even see the attack that Dosu used. Could it have been a genjutsu? Could genjutsu even affect a bunshin?

As if he could read the blondes mind, the mummy nin answered, "It's my main source of attack, sound manipulation." He held his braced arm, "And it's all done with this, my Resonating Echo Speaker. It sends out a wave of high frequency noise deep into the ear canal, causing great pain, disorientation, vertigo, and nausea."

The blonde didn't even know what half of that meant. But it didn't sound good.

"And the cool part about all of our attacks is that they operate on sound." Kin said, speaking for the first time, "And what's better, they move at that speed. So you're gonna get hit, period the end."

"Oh yeah?! Well we'll see about that!" Naruto said defiantly before forming another set of hand signs, "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" The flurry of air balls shot at the Oto nin.

Zaku grinned before holding out his hands.

'Oh no you don't!' Sakura threw a kunai that shot passed Dosu's face and into a bush behind him. The sound of something breaking could be heard as a flurry of shuriken shot of of the bush.

"Shit!" Dosu and Kin cursed. Now it was between canceling out the air bullets or the shuriken, because dodging both would be impossible. The two decided to leap away from the shuriken.

Zaku, having not noticed the disks of death, decided to settle on countering Naruto's jutsu. The Oto nins palms shot out a high pressurization of air infused with chakra, effectively canceling out the air bullets. Zaku cried out as three shuriken got launched into his right arm. One also grazed against his back, tearing the fabric of his shirt and scraping his skin. Through gritted teeth he turned back to his team, who managed to get away unscathed. "What the hell, you could've warned me!" He ground out.

Kin gave him a spiteful smirk, "No time. And it was either you or us, why not let it be you?"

'Some teammates.' Sakura thought, disturbed by the Oto nins disregard for each other's lives.

Dosu set his sights on Sakura, "It appears the pink one will be a problem."

Kin stepped up, "I'll handle the beauty queen. You two can double team blondie over there." She leapt at Sakura.

'Like hell you are' Naruto pulled a kunai and threw it at the female Oto nin. Kin barely saw the flash of silver shoot for her, barely twisting her body to narrowly dodge it, she landed in front of Sakura and was on her like a rabid dog.

Before the blonde could move to help his teammate, he was blasted off his feet by Zaku's wind shooters. Barely having enough time to catch himself, Naruto tucked and rolled along the ground.

His senses caught both Dosu and Zaku charging straight at him. Cursing, he made eight shadow clones and charged at the enemy in groups of four.

Two of the clones that attacked Zaku pulled out their ninjatos and began slashing away, the sound ninja quickly being put on the defensive as he attempted to dodge.

Zaku cried out from getting sliced across his forearms, the wounds not going in too deep to disfigure him, but enough for there to be a considerable amount blood rivulets to flow from the cuts.

One Naruto went for a forward thrust, trying to stab Zaku in the stomach while the second clone leapt up high in a swing to his head, the swing being enough to take his head off if it connected. The older teenager managed to flip away, the tip of the blade slicing away a good few strands of his black hair.

With two other clones coming at him from the back, the Oto ninja became desperate, knowing that if he didn't find a way out he was screwed.

He slammed his hands into the ground, and the next thing the Naruto's knew was them being stopped dead in their tracks, their feet getting sucked into the dirt.

"H-Hey, what gives?!" One of the bunshins exclaimed, trying to pry his feet from the ground.

Zaku smirked, "My hands are capable of sending out winds that can pulverize anything, even the ground you stand on. In your case, I made it so soft that it's like stepping in a pit of mud." He held out his hands to both sides of him, "Now let's see which one's the real you."

Meanwhile, Dosu was getting mobbed by the quadruple of shadow clones. Every which way he turned he would get met with a fist to his face or a foot to his stomach. The kid may have looked like a big goofball, but boy did he know how to fight.

A fist uppercutted Dosu in the chin, throwing him up in the air where the four Naruto's jumped up above him. One pulled out its ninjato, putting it above its head in a position that would be a downward slash. A slash that would bisect Dosu if he didn't do something.

The mummified Oto nin put up his metal braced arm, praying that this was the real Naruto so he could end this assault.

A loud 'clang' reverberated from the clash of metal. Naruto's sword was stopped cold by the Sound ninjas arm, making a slight dent and leaving a good cut deep within the plating.

At first the Naruto wasn't fazed, but then an unbearable ringing blasted through his ears, making it and the other copies cry out before clutching their heads.

All of the Naruto clones burst into smoke, leaving a single blonde Jinchuriki in the air. An accomplished Dosu kicked him in the side of the head, sending him skidding into the ground below.

Clutching his head, the Uzumaki's vision grew blurry as the assault on his ears continued. He couldn't even hear himself think, the ringing was so loud. If he went deaf after this it would be of no surprise to him. Through his squinted eyes and swirling vision, the whiskered teenager could make out two shapes approaching him.

Zaku whistled, "Damn Dosu, you really let this kid have it." The rough looking Oto nin said, watching Naruto writhe in pain on the ground.

Dosu observed the Uzumaki himself, "He put up a great fight. Still, as with everyone who has crossed us, he fell." The bandages around his nose and mouth were speckled with red, showing he had a possible busted nose and lip. He also clutched his abused ribs with his right hand. "It's strange, because if he were trying to kill us, I think he may have won."

Zaku scoffed, "Hn, weakling. What kind of shinobi doesn't fight to kill." He watched as Naruto got on his hands and knees before he spew stomach bile onto the ground. Zaku's face twisted into a sadistic smile, "before we finish this, I think I wanna drag this out some more." He sent a hard kick into Naruto's stomach, preparing on making the Jinchuuriki feel as much pain as possible before he was executed.

A beaten and battered Sakura was roughly thrown to the ground. She hadn't stood a chance against Kin in hand to hand combat. She had a particularly nasty gash somewhere above her hairline, causing a thin stream of red to trail down the side of her face. The other girl had her beat in every way imaginable; strength, speed, ferocity, and technique. And she'd only been using her fist, no Jutsu.

The pinkette tried crawling back to her feet, trying her best to prove that she wasn't just baggage. That she wasn't just a burden. That she wasn't useless. 'I-I... w-won't, g-give, up!' She declared as she got to her knees.

A foot met the back of her head, sending her face back into the dirt.

"Pathetic," Kin's voice snided. She grabbed a handful of Sakura's pink hair and jerked her head up, making the Haruno squeal and clamber onto her knees. Sakura gasped as Kin forced her to watch as her teammates pummeled on the near unconscious blonde of her team. Zaku's foot came down on Naruto's form hard, and repeatedly. "To think that this all could have been avoided if you just stayed the hell out of our way." Kin sighed in faux sorrow, "Now you're gonna have to watch while we torture your friend to death," she leaned into Sakura's ear, "And it'll be all your fault."

Tears fell from the pinkettes green eyes, 'Naruto... I'm sorry.'

* * *

At a location not too far away from the battle, Team 10 were camped out, waiting eagerly for a team to cross their path.

"Ugh, it's been a day now and we still haven't found anyone!" Ino moaned as her and Shikamaru kept watch from behind a set of bushes. Actually, she was the one keeping watch, Shikamaru got bored and said 'to hell with this' and lied down on the ground to relax, folding his arms behind his head.

"Seriously Ino, stop complaining. It's not like we're gonna pass this exam anyways." The lazy genius sighed.

Ino gave the Nara a disappointed look before shaking her head, "I swear Shikamaru, you've got to be one of the most negative guys I've ever met. I feel bad for whatever girl you end up dating."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say Ino, but it doesn't stop the fact that I'm right. Just think about it, we're like the weakest team out here."

"What? No way."

"Yes, way. I mean, there is Team 7, but Naruto's a dumbass, and Sakura's a freakin weakling." Shikamaru said.

"What about Trunks and Sasuke?" Ino asked.

"Pfft, I bet Sasuke isn't nearly as great as you guys make him out to be. And Trunks, he's just a freak of nature."

"Hey!" Ino shouted, "I don't care what you say about Naruto, and I care less what you say about Sakura, but if I hear you insult Trunks one more time I'll rip your heart out and make you eat it!" She warned with a red face full of anger.

Shikamaru put up his hands defensively, "Okay okay take it easy!"

Ino gave him a warning look, before turning away.

The genius sighed, 'To think that if I say anything critical about that guy then I'll get the angry eye from his #1 fan over here. What a drag.'

Choji took up a position in a nearby tree, sitting on one of the branches that outstretched over his two teammates. Although it was also his job to keep an overlooking view of the groups surroundings, he took a small snack break instead.

While munching down happily on two sweet rolls, something caught the fat boy's eye, "Huh?"

"Hey Shikamaru, Ino, you guys should get a look at this!" Choji called down.

"What is it, fullboy?" Ino asked as she and Shikamaru jumped up to Choji's spot.

The Akimichi pointed to an area a fair distance away, "It's Sakura and Naruto, they're in trouble!"

The two saw Sakura being restrained by Kin, being forced to watch as Naruto was beat up on by Zaku and Dosu.

"Damn, they're getting wrecked." Shikamaru grimaced, disturbed by the display. He turned to see that Ino was visibly hurt, a pained expression on her face at watching her friend turned rival being tortured by an enemy team. "Sasuke and Trunks must be down, meaning there's not gonna be any help coming for those two." Shikamaru said. He had an idea of what was going through her mind.

Ino bit her quivering lip, her fists balling up tight, before she leapt down from the tree.

"Hey, Ino?!" Choji called out before he and Shikamaru jumped down and chased after her.

* * *

Zaku sent another hard kick into Naruto's stomach, making the Uzumaki cough up a mixture of blood and spittle that mixed into the dirt.

"Heh, you had enough yet, kid?" Zaku asked the Uzumaki who was wheezing hard and gasping for air, having been emptied of it from the abuse of his ribs.

A watery smirk came across Naruto's mouth, "Is that... all you idiots got? I've... taken worse beatings... from Sakura." He said defiantly.

Dosu raised an eyebrow, impressed with the Uzumaki's resilience. Zaku on the other hand, wasn't.

With an angry red face, Zaku pressed his foot hard against the side of the Jinchurikis head. "You little fuckin' runt, who do you think you're talking to?" He ground the sole of his sandal against Naruto's temple.

The pinkette struggled against Kin's grip on her hair, but the kunoichi kneed her in the back, forcing her to stay down on her knees. "I swear you're weak." Kin snickered, "Here's a little tip, maybe if you weren't so busy putting on make-up, and spent a little more time training, then maybe you'd be a better shinobi."

Sakura couldn't deny that. She didn't take her shinobi career as seriously as she'd wanted to, and now it was costing her. Always chasing after boys instead of training, always putting down Naruto, someone who had loads more talent than she did, instead of working on her own flaws, and always wasting time trying to look pretty, instead of becoming stronger. If she were given a second chance, then she would definitely change that.

Team 10 were watching nervously from behind a set of bushes.

"Oh man, this looks bad." Choji said with fear present in his voice.

"Yeah, I know." Shikamaru agreed. He turned to Ino, who now looked deeply conflicted, "It's your call, Ino. What do you wanna do?" He asked.

She couldn't bring herself to answer, "Why are you asking me, huh?"

"Because something tells me that if we don't step up, then their toast. Are you cool with that?" The Nara explained. "They'll kill Naruto, they'll kill Sakura, then Sasuke, and then Trunks."

Ino's fists tightened. What could she do? What could anyone on her team do? They'd just get into the same fix that Team 7 is in and then they'd be killed. And then Team 7 would be killed as well and it would have all been for nothing. 'I... I don't...'

Zaku took his foot off Naruto's head, "Alright, I'm done. Let's waste this retard." He held out a hand over Naruto, making Dosu take a few steps back. He knew it would be messy.

Sakura couldn't watch this anymore, she had to break free. A kunai slipped into her hand, that which Kin noticed.

"Really princess, you think that's gonna work on me?" The Oto girl asked cockily.

Sakura gave her a counter smirk, "It isn't meant for you." In one swipe of her kunai she cut away the hair that was below Kin's grip, releasing her from the Sound kunoichi's mercy.

"What?!" Kin exclaimed. The sudden release of her hold brought her off balance.

Sakura hopped forward and threw her kunai at Kin as a diversion. Kin barely managing to twist her body to avoid the knife that lodged deep into a tree behind her.

She noticed Sakura was charging straight for Dosu and Zaku, "Heads up, she's coming straight for you!" She warned.

Zaku turned to the pinkette coming at him and Dosu, "Heh, would you look at that. Bring it on, bitch!" He challenged as he leveled both of his hands at Sakura's direction, completely disregarding Naruto.

A mistake he would dearly regret.

The Uzumaki's eyes snapped open, and in the instant it took Zaku to blink, his left hand was sliced off.

The Sound nin screamed, grabbing the stump of his hand that was squirting blood.

Dosu's eye widened in surprise, 'What in the name of?" He couldn't even see the blonde move. All he felt was a slight ripple in the air before the sound of flesh getting sliced filled his ear. He turned to his right to see the blonde standing on wobbly legs, his sword held out in front of him.

"Y-You, bastard!" Zaku ground out. He kept his glare at his bloodied and disjointed hand lying in the dirt in front of him. His remaining hand was clamped tight over his stump, trying to stop the blood flow, "You... cut my damn hand off!"

Naruto flung the blood off of his blade before putting it in its holster, "Yeah, I know what I did." He turned to Dosu and Zaku, his eyes still holding the same fire that it did at the start of the fight. "And I'm still not done yet."

Sakura stopped, having her intention be to save the Uzumaki. She hadn't expected him to spring out the way he did, and that threw her off. She set her sights on Zaku, preparing to finish him off while he was injured.

Before she could move however, she felt a numbing pain shoot up and down her thighs, bringing her to her hands and knees. 'What?' She turned to see three needles sticking out of the back of her legs. Her head turned completely around to see it was Kin who threw them, preparing to slip another set into her fingers.

"Bullseye, now it's time to end it." Kin said as she draw back her senben, preparing to launch them them into Sakura's skull.

She tried to throw them, but she couldn't. She was frozen stiff. "Hey, what the hell's going-" A fist blasted into her cheek, knocking her away.

Sakura gasped, seeing a streak of purple and blonde appear in her vision. "Ino?" She breathed in disbelief.

The blonde turned to her, "Yeah its me, Forehead. If you think I'm just gonna sit by and let someone else take the glory of kicking your ass, you're as dumb as I thought." The Yamanaka turned to a group of bushes, "Choji, get Sakura out of here!" She called out.

The Akimichi rushed out, followed by Shikamaru who was rubbing his jaw. "Thanks a lot Ino, you know when I'm using my shadow possession I can feel whatever you do to her, right?"

Ino gave him a cheeky smile, "Yeah, I know."

'Bitch.' Shikamaru thought.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the three, 'Well look who showed up, the three stooges.'

'Who're these clowns?' Dosu thought. He saw Choji drag the wounded pinkette out of the battlefield. Shikamaru stayed by Ino's side, despite knowing that he wouldn't be of much help if he couldn't get one of them with his shadow possession Jutsu.

Naruto faced Dosu and took a battle stance. As confident as he felt, a voice in the back of his head told him that he may not win this. He had just gotten the hell beat out of him and the sound nin had proven that he could counter most of his techniques. Hell, Dosu was capable of taking him down without even touching him, so what did that mean were his chances? The odds weren't exactly in his favor, but he was damn sure he was gonna play his cards anyways.

Kin staggered to her feet, angrily wiping away the small trail of blood that ran down the corner of her mouth. She set her sights on Ino and Shikamaru.

Shikamaru cursed, 'This is bad, just judging by these guys chakra there's no way me and Ino can take them. We'd be about as effective if Naruto just took them all on his own." He saw the look on Ino's face, and it was about the equivalent of her telling him, 'What the hell did we just get ourselves into?'

As much as Zaku wanted to get even with the brat that took his hand, he knew he wouldn't get far with the other two serving as back up. The Oto nin raised up his bloodied remaining hand, leveling his palm out at Ino and Shikamaru, "Say Goodnight." He grinned.

A shockwave of wind blasted from Zaku's hands and tore after her and Shikamaru. It was too fast to dodge, and there was no way to counter it when it hit. Time slowed as the two closed their eyes and braced themselves for the impact of the attack.

A second passed.

Then two.

But the brutal impact never came. They could feel the force of something grab them, and the air around them shift, but they expected Zaku's attack to be more painful than it was.

Ino, opening her eyes, noticed a muscular arm wrapped around her waist. She looked behind her to see that Zaku's attack carved a swath in the dirt and uprooted a bush some distance away. She looked up to see who her savior was, gasping in shock as she did, "T... Trunks-Kun!"

The saiyan didn't pay her mind, having already accomplished getting her and Shikamaru out of harm's way. His gaze was trained on Zaku, an animalistic rage present behind his eyes. When Zaku looked into them, he could almost feel the heat of the saiyans restrained fury setting him ablaze.

He was tempted to take a step back in fear, but his pride wouldn't allow it.

Sakura sighed, relieved at the sight of her teammate being back on his feet.

Naruto called out, "Hey Trunks, it's about time you woke up. Is Sasuke alright?"

The saiyan didn't take his eyes off of Zaku, releasing Ino and Shikamaru, "Sasuke's just fine. He actually woke up too."

Sakura's eyes lit up, "Sasuke?!" Her eyes searched around for the Uchiha, and when she found him, having exited the tree, she gasped in horror.

The Uchiha's body was half covered in black flame-like markings, the raven haired teen prowling forward with his sharingan active, his eyes darkened with a murderous shadow. He faced Dosu and Zaku, standing but a few feet away from the two, making them back away in fear.

"Th-that's... Sasuke?" Kin stuttered. She felt the need to run, the amount of killing intent Sasuke was releasing being unimaginable.

Dosu couldn't believe the state of which the Uchiha was in, 'His marks... he was marked hours ago and their already spread across his body.'

Shikamaru felt the need to grab Ino and get her and Choji out of the area, having a strong feeling that this was going to be bad. Really bad.

'Sasuke-Kun, what happened to you?' Ino thought.

Trunks and Naruto weren't exactly fans of the Uchihas condition either. This was actually the first time Trunks saw it. When Sasuke woke him up, the prince couldn't see the Uchiha's face, it having been shadowed from his view. All Sasuke told him was, 'Naruto and Sakura are in trouble', before Trunks sprung into action.

"Hey Sasuke, what the hell happened to you?" Naruto demanded, voicing everyone's concern.

Sasuke held up his hand, observing the markings that covered it and traveled up his arm. "This power... He gave it to me." The memory of Orochimaru biting Sasuke rang through Team 7's minds. "As a matter of fact, it feels good, it makes me feel better than I ever have before. Orochimaru showed me what I really am," He clenched his fist, "an avenger. Someone who does whatever it takes to achieve power, to kill the one he loathes, even at the cost of my own life and morality." His sights once again set on Dosu and Zaku, "And I think I'll start my journey by destroying the ones who dare attack my allies." He fazed out, shocking the sound nin.

Kin glanced around, "Where'd he-" A fist blasted into her face, knocking her unconscious and sending her soaring into Dosu. The mummy nin barely caught her, things happening so fast that he didn't have the time to register what just transpired.

The Uchiha stood, fist extended in the spot where Kin once stood. He didn't want to attack the other two just yet, he had to give his new power a test drive first. Sasuke grinned in a way that unsettled Team 7. Something about it seemed all too similar to a certain snake bastard.

"He's faster... and much stronger." Trunks said in awe.

The Uchiha flexed his fingers in the hand he punched Kin with. He didn't even try really, it was more of a love tap and he could feel the girl's jaw shatter. "None of you are to join in, these two are mine." The black flames on the Uchiha's body glowed orange before they spread further out by a few inches.

Dosu coughed up blood and bile as a fist slammed into his stomach, bringing him to his knees and clutching his gut. The bandages covering his face grew even more red with the blood splatter. He gasped for air in an attempt to fill his empty lungs. "I'll deal with you in a second." Sasuke said to the downed sound nin.

Zaku was sent sprawling across the dirt from a foot colliding with the side of his head. His vision was already growing blurry from his blood loss, but now he was practically seeing white. Although he couldn't see, he could feel his one good arm being forcefully grabbed, and bent.

Sasuke put a foot on Zaku's back, holding down the Oto teenager as he grabbed his arm with both hands, holding it straight and putting one hand near the elbow and the other near his wrist. He twisted the limb, slowly applying a discomforting amount of pressure.

"H-Hey, l-let go!" Zaku ground out as his arm grew aching.

Sasuke only grinned harder before applying even more pressure, making the Sound nin howl out in pain. If he kept this up, he was going to break his arm, in at least three different places.

Choji couldn't watch, covering his ears and shutting his eyes to avoid witnessing the brutality. Naruto seriously considered joining in to stop Sasuke, but that bastard and his friend had spent over 10 minutes trying to beat him to death. What reason did he have to save him from suffering a broken limb?

Trunks could see into Sasuke's eyes, and what he saw disturbed him. The Uchiha was getting some sort of sick enjoyment out of this, evident by the smile that grew larger on his face with Zaku's increased screaming. This wasn't the Sasuke Trunks knew. It was obviously due to that curse mark, and if Sasuke killed Zaku, they may just lose him.

"P-please, stoooop!" Zaku howled as tears ran from his eyes. His arm was now twisted at a very unnatural angle. The sound of bones shifting and straining was audible to everyone in the vicinity. If Sasuke twisted it just another inch, it would shatter.

"What's the matter?" The Uchiha purred, "What happened to all that bravado and attitude when you and your idiots were beating on my teammates?" He was trying to drag this out, make Zaku feel as much pain as possible before his arm gave way. Then he would kill this sorry bastard.

A tight grip restrained the Uchiha's forearm, preventing him from snapping the Oto nins arm.

"That's enough Sasuke. Let go. _Now_." Trunks ordered, a steel in his voice.

Sasuke didn't let go, but he didn't continue either. Instead he smirked at Trunks, "Well ain't this a surprise. Since when do you give a damn about someone dying? Hypocrite much?"

"Don't mistake my intentions. I don't give a damn about them, I'd kill'em myself if I had the opportunity. It's you I'm worried about." Trunks said.

"What could possibly be wrong with me? I'm just giving these idiots what they deserve." Sasuke said in mock innocence.

"You're enjoying this a little too much. And I don't like it." Trunks eyes narrowed, "I also know you, and this isn't who you are."

Sasuke snapped, "What do you know about me?! Don't try to act like you know my history and what I'm capable of." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Trunks, his voice dripping with venom, "Now if you don't take your God damn hand off me... _I'll kill you_."

A chill ran through the spectators bones. Tears began building in Sakura's eyes. This wasn't the Sasuke she knew, the boy she admired since her childhood. Just what did Orochimaru's mark do to him?

"Sasuke, who the hell do you think you are?" Naruto barked in disbelief. "You let some creepy pedophile bite you and now you think you can talk to one of us like that?"

Sasuke ignored the Uzumaki, keeping his focus on the saiyan, "You gonna back off, or do I have to make you?"

The saiyan was getting tired of Sasuke's attitude, "Just because you got a little boost in power, doesn't mean you can beat me Sasuke."

"That's what you think."

"That's what I _know_." Trunks said.

Sasuke was tempted to fight the saiyan. He wanted to rip him apart, show him he wasn't one to be trifled with now that he was stronger. A voice in his head tried to allure him into attacking the demi-saiyan.

 _'He's weakened, exhausted, injured.'_ The voice purred to him, 'If you strike now you can kill him, and be one step closer to Itachi!' He was fully prepared to, but then he thought, 'No. If I'm going to beat him it'll be at his best. Nothing less.' Then there was the issue of Naruto. The blonde wouldn't just stand by while he fought Trunks. He'd get in and help, leaving Sasuke to deal with the two of them at once. He had to be patient, wait for his showdown with the saiyan. He released Zaku's arm, and at the same time calmed himself so the curse mark flames retreated back to their origins behind his neck.

His head throbbed painfully, making him clutch it and clench his eyes. When they opened, the sharingan had deactivated and returned to their ebony orbs. "What... What did I just do?" The Uchiha thought as he examined his surroundings.

Sakura, her legs feeling better, ran up and hugged the Uchiha from behind, sobbing uncontrollably into his back.

Trunks sighed, before feeling a pair of arms wrap around him. He saw from the white elbow warmers that it was Ino. He could hear the Yamanaka give a muffled 'Thank you' from behind him, her face buried into the fabric of his shirt.

Shikamaru and Choji walked up to Naruto. "What... The hell... Just happened?" Shikamaru asked the whiskered jinchuuriki.

Naruto scratched his face in a thinking manner, "Long story short, Sasuke got bit and went crazy."

Shikamaru and Choji exchanged confused glances, but shrugged it off.

The Nara noticed the confused and baffled look on the Uchiha's face, "It doesn't look like he remembers much. You guys should really keep an eye on him, he's dangerous."

Naruto shook his head, "Nah, he's just a Teme." He said casually, making Shikamaru roll his eyes,

'Clueless moron.' He thought.

The konoha genin noticed Dosu stagger up, still clutching his abused stomach that no doubtedly sported a disgusting bruise underneath the clothing. He slung Kin over his shoulder, the girls right cheek and bottom jaw splashed a violent purple, before putting one of Zaku's arms over his shoulder for support. He knew he would have to get him somewhere 'safe' so he could cauterize his stump. He began walking away.

"I just cut you guys a huge break. Remember that." Trunks called after the sound nin, making Dosu stop.

"Yeah, you did." Dosu said before he pulled out two scrolls and dropped them, before jumping into the trees.

Choji and Naruto immediately ran up to the scrolls. Before the Akimichi could grab either, Naruto beat him to it, much to the chubby boys annoyance.

"Woohoo, we got an earth scroll!" Naruto pumped a fist in the air.

The Uzumaki let Choji take the remaining scroll. "Hey Shikamaru, guess what, a heaven scroll!" He called out to his best friend.

Shikamaru couldn't help but grin, "Finally, now we can make our way outta here."

The rest of Team 7 was also relieved. It felt good to know they completed the first half of the exam.

Ino decided to release her crush before focusing on Sakura, "Hey Forehead, want me to do your hair?"

"What?" Sakura mumbled, surprised that her rival would wanna do her a favor.

"What are ya, deaf? I wanna fix your hair for you. Your split ends are so bad I couldn't wish them on my worst enemy. That includes you." The flower girl said.

Sakura smiled, "Yeah, I guess I'll let you do that." She smirked.

* * *

As the teams were recovering from the aftermath of the battle, Trunks found Sasuke sitting alone away from everyone. "Hey, Sasuke, you alright?" He asked as he approached the Uchiha survivor.

Sasuke gave him a side glance, "Yeah why do you ask?" He asked bluntly, taking Trunks back a bit.

"I-I dunno, you just seemed kind of, out of it." Trunks said awkwardly. He knew that Sasuke couldn't remember the events of what happened with his curse mark, but he still felt the need to make sure he was feeling okay.

Sasuke answered rudely, "Well I'm fine thanks for asking. Now leave me be."

"Uh, ok?" Trunks didn't know why the Uchiha was being extra douchey now, but it's not like he could force him to talk.

He complied with Sasuke's wishes and moved on.

After the two teams went their separate ways, Team 7 found themselves alone in the forest.

"Sooo, we have the scrolls, what now?" Naruto asked.

"Simple. We head to the tower." Trunks said as he strapped his sword to his back and fastened the buckle.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Sakura said happily, her hair having been trimmed to shoulder length.

"Then let's go." Sasuke said as he shot into the trees, his team following behind him.

XXX

A/N: Alright to be honest, I'm not too impressed with the final result of this chapter. It just seems so... bleh, to me. I tried to let Naruto have a role in this fight unlike in canon, but I'm just not the best at fight scenes. I also didn't want Trunks to be the only person in this story fighting people and pwning them. I mean you have to give love to the blonde too.

I also wanna apologize for the long wait. The charger to my laptop broke (chewed on by puppy), and school started a week ago so I've been busy. And since this is my senior year, I'm trying to go out with the best grades possible.

I won't lie to you guys, updates will slow down, but they WILL come. I PROMISE you guys that.

Anyways, this is all you guys. Until next time, read and review!


	17. Preliminaries (Part 1)

A/N: The forest of death segment ends here. We begin with the preliminary matches as well.

NOTE: If a fight goes the same as it did during canon, I won't bother rewriting all of it.

WARNING: Alot of the fights **are** canon.

* * *

After getting their scroll, the rest of the exam became a cakewalk to Team 7. After a run-in with Kabuto, whom proved himself a friendly adversary, the teens were led through the forest under his guidance. The group did come across other enemy teams, but they didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against the combined might of Trunks, Naruto, and the marked Sasuke.

The saiyan still didn't trust Kabuto; the older teenager still held an air of dishonesty, and the amount of power that Trunks could sense from him was still far too much to be considerable for a Genin. He wouldn't voice his concern, but he would still keep an eye on him.

Once the group made it to the tower, Kabuto decided to stay behind, claiming it was to wait up for his own team. After walking through the big red doors they were greeted by Iruka, who congratulated them on their success in the forest.

After being granted the next two days of the exam for rest and relaxation; Trunks, Naruto, and Sakura decided to keep quiet about the Uchiha's little... condition, deciding that it would be best to keep that information confidential until after the exam. It just wouldn't be worth the drama if Sasuke got kicked out and decided to attack one of them in anger.

Two days may not have been much time to rest, but the teens weren't complaining. Those three days they spent in the forest had to be the longest three days they've had to endure.

* * *

Anko hissed as she clutched her neck, the curse mark searing with the same fire comparable to someone were holding a lighter to her neck. Even though Hiruzen tried his best to null the pain, she could still feel her old master's presence overriding the Hokage's treatment. She and the group of Anbu whom she pursued Orochimaru with were gathered in the Hokage's office. The snake Jonin was sprawled out on a couch in front of the Hokage's desk, the old man sat in his chair, facing the window to the outside village, pondering on the information he was given.

"So, he's returned..." Hiruzen mumbled, audibly enough for everyone else to hear.

"Yeah," Anko grunted through the pain of her curse mark, she pulled up the collar to her jacket to cover it back up, trying her best to ignore the burning sensation, "and as it turns out, someone managed to throw down with that bastard and get away."

Hiruzen visibly flinched, "And how do you know this?" He gave the Jonin a side glance.

It was an Anbu shinobi who spoke, "As we dove deeper into the forest, we saw an exponential amount of ruin, an obvious sign that a battle took place. The lack of bodies pretty much sums up that both combatants got away."

Another Anbu nodded, "And the amount of power that was slung around out there, it had to be incredible. We could still feel the energy as clearly as if we were there when the fight happened. Whoever fought Orochimaru, there's no way they're Genin level."

Hiruzen turned in his seat, a wondrous look on his features, "Trunks Briefs." He said, a faraway look in his gaze.

"Trunks Briefs? The kid from that incident a few months back?" Anko asked despite knowing the answer.

"I remember that kid, I was there trying to manage the crowd when the event took place." One of the Anbu noted.

"I heard rumor that that kid executed that traitorous bastard, Mizuki." An Anbu with a bird mask said.

"He also uses Ki from what I heard." An Oni masked Anbu said.

Anko spoke up before the room broke out in full scale chatter, "You really think that kid could stand up to a sannin?" She asked the Hokage, "I've seen him myself and he doesn't look like anything special," she crossed her arms, "even if he took out a Chunin."

The Hokage needed a stress reliever. He took out his pipe and tapped in some tobacco that he was no doubtedly addicted to. After lighting it and taking a puff of smoke he spoke, "He may not look it, Anko-chan, but that boy has developed quite the track record during his time within the village. Just days after he awoke from his coma, he bested Uchiha Sasuke in a one on one sparring match."

Anko's eyes widened a bit.

Hiruzen continued, "Three days after that, he executed Mizuki, a high ranked Chunin. According to reports by Kakashi, weeks after joining his Genin team, he faced Zabuza Momochi, an A-rank missing nin from the Hidden Mist said to be equal to Kakashi, and beat him half to death." At this, Hiruzen noticed several of the Anbu tense up, making him smirk, "Although this report may be slightly exaggerated." He knew his words came off as hollow to his men.

Anko huffed and folded her arms, "So the kid's a badass, I'll give him that. But I'm still not convinced he could take on Orochimaru."

"Perhaps not as he was." Hiruzen admitted, making Anko give him a questionable look, "I've discovered the boy possesses a Kekkai-Genkai, a transformation known as a Super Saiyan."

The room went silent. The few unmasked Anbu plus Anko stared at the elderly man like he grew an extra head.

"Super saiyan?" One of the Anbu said in confusion.

"The hell is that?" Anko voiced what was on everyone's mind.

Hiruzen put his pipe back in the drawer in his desk, "Super saiyan is a transformation that grants the user a boost to speed and strength. I myself have gotten to witness the spectacle, and the amount of power that Trunks-Kun possessed was easily worthy of a bijuu." Hiruzen said.

If the room wasn't silent before, now one could hear a pin drop.

A whistle broke the silence, "Some kid." An Anbu said in astonishment.

"Do you think he's Orochimaru's target?" Anko asked.

"If he wasn't before, then he's sure to be now." Hiruzen said in a thinking manner. "Who his original target was is still a mystery, but my guess would have to be either a Hyuuga or an Uchiha."

"Makes sense to me." Anko said, "Now that I think about it, wouldn't him going after the sharingan help further his goal more than the Byakugan?"

"It surely would. Which means that we will have to keep a close eye out for Sasuke." Hiruzen said.

"Wait hold on!" An Anbu cut in, "What's Orochimaru's plan? What could he gain from marking someone?"

"It's to steal their body." Anko said, "Every new body he gets starts to reject him after a certain amount of time. The geezer wants to be immortal and learn every jutsu worth knowing, so he body hops to stay alive."

"And having the sharingan would help him speed up the process." The Hokage finished. "But while the exams are going, I want you all to conduct an investigation. I highly doubt that Orochimaru's working alone."

* * *

"I managed to gather the info you wanted, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto was kneeled in front of the sannin. The two were outside on a small patio overlooking a pond.

Orochimaru was dressed out in a Konoha Jonin uniform, complete with the hitai-ate. He grinned in anticipation, "Well what are you waiting for? Show me what you've compiled on my new friend."

Kabuto reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his nin info cards. The sannin plucked it from the silver haired teenagers fingers before looking over it. What he got was an image of the Demi-saiyan, along with the matrix that showed his stats, "Trunks Briefs, huh. Arrived in Konohagakure under questionable circumstances, above average IQ, is a wielder of ki?" His voice grew increasingly more fascinated the more he read of the saiyan. "Well now, that explains the foreign source of energy." The sannin flicked the card back to Kabuto who snatched it out of the air.

"Yes, and it's apparent he's the only one who uses it." Kabuto said. "I myself have gotten to witness its abilities and it's pretty frightening, to say the least." He noticed Orochimaru's gaze stayed trained on the fountain. The sannin wouldn't admit that a mere Genin was capable of putting him on his toes, but he wouldn't deny that some of his ki attacks were rather...menacing. The spectacled teen began reading over the card, "His genjutsu levels are nonexistent, unsurprisingly, his taijutsu skills are impressive; if anything I'd say he was around Sasuke's level. Still, not on the level of a high ranking Chunin or Jonin."

"That's of no surprise to me either. He's still rather young and could use some more training." Orochimaru said, "But do continue."

"Ninjutsu is nonexistent, but I'd say he knows his fair share of ki related abilities. Kenjutsu, very impressive. He knows his way around that sword of his." In a box under Trunks picture it showed an image of the saiyans broadsword. Kabuto's eyes scrolled over to a box imprinted to the right of the stat matrix. Three bars were graphed inside the box, with the first two, labeled speed and strength sprouting all the way to the top and stopping. The bar labeled energy, extended passed the top and grew fainter as it blurred out. "Speed, strength, and chakra, or ki, levels are through the roof. But that should be of no surprise to you Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said.

"That's the only area where we're about even." The sannin said nonchalantly. "But that was only with his transformation."

"Transformation? I take it you mean his kekkai-genkai. I haven't gotten to see the transformation, but I overheard a conversation between team 7 and they mentioned something called a 'super saiyan'. I hypothesize that's what they were talking about."

"Tsk, _super saiyan_. Never heard of it." Orochimaru said as he folded his arms. The name itself sounded ridiculous to the ex-Akatsuki. "But still, it's undeniable how much of a threat Trunks-kun is."

"Do you want him assassinated?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru shook his head in a dismissive manner, "Don't bother. I want him as a potential body. Not that I would mind having Sasuke's-kun of course. The sharingan is invaluable. But If I can't have Trunks-kun, then at the least I would want him as a subordinate. To have someone with his level of power on my side would make me nigh-unstoppable."

Kabuto could understand where his sensei was coming from. The many game breaking abilities of the sharingan may be enough to balance out a saiyans divine-level of raw power. And from what he knew about Trunks Brief, it appeared that a more strategic opponent could get a 1-up on him in battle. But the more training the boy received; the more shinobi experience he gained coupled with his unbelievable amount of power could turn him into a true nightmare.

Orochimaru turned and walked away, "I want you to continue participating in the exams. I want to see more of Trunks and Sasuke-kun in action." He said.

This made Kabuto's heart race. The thought of possibly facing off against Trunks didn't sit well with him, "B-but wait, I don't think that's-" In a flash the sannin was back in front of Kabuto, face to face with a disturbingly calm grin twisting Orochimaru's features. An ice cold chill ran through Kabuto's body as the sannins left hand lightly touched his shoulder. The spy began to break out in a cold sweat as the snake-nin spoke,

"Now now, Kabuto-kun, it isn't like you to question my resolve." His voice contained it's velvety baritone, "I'm going to assume that I misheard what you were attempting to say?" Fingers trailed up to the base of the spies neck, a gesture that meant if Kabuto answered wrong, then his neck wouldn't be at it's allowed angle.

Kabuto gulped and quickly answered, "N-No, Orochimaru-sama. I have nothing to say." After being Orochimaru's right hand man for so long, Kabuto could forget just how scary the man could be.

"That's what I thought." Orochimaru said with a smile as he took his hand away from Kabuto's neck. "I'll be seeing you in the next phase." The sannin said as he turned and walked away, leaving Kabuto to wonder just how deep a hole he got himself thrown into.

* * *

As the next two days passed, days that went by without any real incident, everyone found themselves gathered in the center of the tower. The survivors of the Forest of death included 5 leaf teams, one Suna team, and the Oto team. Hiruzen couldn't help but smile in pride as three of the teams were just rookies, and what was better, one of the Teams made it within the second day! His village just might have produced some of the most promising Genin in ages.

Behind and to each side of Sarutobi stood both Anko and Ibiki. Along with them were all the Jonin senseis of the Genin that had made it thus far with several more unnamed Chunin as well as Jonin.

'Out of the 79 people to start, 22 people actually made it in time.' Thought Anko frowning. 'When I said I'd cut them in half, I was thinking more like single digits.' She finished with a sigh.

Gai got a look at Team 7 before smirking, "Your team doesn't look too bad Kakashi, or perhaps they just got lucky. But with my Team thrown in the mix yours is doomed to failure." Said Gai to his eternal rival.

"...Hm, you say something?" asked Kakashi as he faced the other jounin, making Gai yell in an overdramatic fashion.

'Alright, you win this round Kakashi. But that too cool for school attitude of yours really drives me crazy. But I'll be damned if I let you get the best of me.' Gai thought, an invisible aura of fire sprouted around his body.

'So that's Trunks-kun's sensei. He doesn't look like much.' thought Tenten, eyeing the one eyed Jonin, 'But in the looks department, I'd say he creams Gai.

'I knew it, among the sensei's Gai-sensei is the coolest, he's absolutely amazing! Watch me Gai-sensei, I'll make you proud of me!' Lee declared as a flame appeared in his eyes to match his senseis.

'…' thought Neji.

Ino's eyes lit up when she saw Trunks and the rest of Team 7, 'Yes! Trunks-kun passed!' She squealed in her head. Shikamaru noticed the bright look on Ino's face and pieced together the source.

'Oh great. Now I'm gonna have to put up with her Trunks fetish for the rest of the time I'm in here.' The slacker groaned.

Hinata smiled when she saw Naruto's team, 'Naruto-kun, you made it. Thank goodness.' She thought happily.

'So only 7 out of the 27 team's passed.' thought Temari.

'So Gaara made it out unscathed. As expected.' Thought Baki, the jounin sensei for the Suna team.

Naruto looked around at all of the Genin that managed to pass the exam "Whoa, it looks like everyone made it. Shikamaru's team, Kiba's team, Bushy Brows team, the creepy sand guys team, and even those sound douchebags. I guess nobody got left out this time." At the mention of the sound ninjas, Sasuke, Sakura, and Trunks's heads turned to them.

Kin's jaw was splashed in a purple blotch and was swollen on the right side, the side where Sasuke punched her. Zaku's left hand was a stump wrapped in white bandages, a small spatter of blood could be seen in the white, meaning that it was a messy operation in treating the wounded ninja. Dosu, looked to be in the best shape compared to his two teammates. The blood speckled bandages once covering his face had apparently been replaced by a fresh set, allowing him to look much cleaner than he did after his fight with Naruto.

"Looks like they're in pretty bad shape." Said Sakura.

"You feel bad for'em?" Trunks asked.

"Pfff, no. Those jerks started it." Sakura said nonchalantly. Naruto, Trunks, and Sasuke fully agreed to that.

Zaku passed Team 7 a side glance, 'Uzumaki, you're gonna pay for taking my hand.' Thought Zaku with a scowl, clenching his right hand. The only hand he had left.

A burning sensation built up on the Uchiha's neck, making him grunt in pain and clutch the area of his curse mark.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura asked, her voice heavy with concern.

"I'm fine, Sakura. Just drop it." Sasuke growled out.

Naruto spoke up, "Sasuke, you're hurt. We're not gonna just drop it."

"You don't have to keep going." Trunks said, "Whatever you're trying to prove is meaningless if it just gets you killed."

Sasuke snapped, "Shut up shut up shut UP!" His tone rising at his three teammates. He was loud enough for the others in the room to hear. With the Jonin and the Hokage being, well, Jonin and Kage, they were able to tell who got marked.

Anko turned to the Hokage, "Lord Hokage, we need to get Sasuke out of here. He can't compete in these exams."

"And do you think that he'll just leave quietly?" Kakashi cut in. "You're forgetting that he's an Uchiha."

"I don't give a damn what he is!" Anko snapped, "If he stays he'll be a danger to everyone. The curse mark is feeding off of his chakra." Anko placed her hand on her mark, "It's a wonder how he's still alive." She mumbled. "Lord Hokage, please. We need to have Anbu detain him and keep him under surveillance."

The Hokage took a moment to think. "We'll allow Sasuke Uchiha to compete, and we'll handle the curse mark after these coming matches."

"But Hokage-sa-" Anko stopped herself, knowing it was impossible to argue with the Hokages terms.

The teens listened up as the Hokage spoke, "Congratulations all of you for completing the second exam," Hiruzen announced. "You have been brought here to prepare for the next portion of your evaluation."

Hiruzen took a hit from his pipe, knowing this would be a lengthy explanation, "Before I explain to you the third test, there is something that I would like for you all to know." stated Sarutobi immediately catching the attention of the gathered gennin.

"Why do we have all of the allied countries taking the exam together? Many believe it is to promote friendship among the countries. Others believe it is to raise the skill level of our own shinobi. But here and now I will tell you the truth because I feel that as respectable soldiers you deserve to know the real motivation behind the exams." Started Hiruzen, "The truth of the matter is that this is a replacement for war among the allied countries. If you trace back the history of the nations you will find that the current allies were once sworn enemies. These were people who fought over the rights to rule this world. However, in order to prevent wasteful fighting these people set a stage for battle. That is the origin of the Chuunin Exam." explained Sarutobi

"But why should we have to do that? These exams were supposed to determine who was worthy of becoming a Chunin." Temari voiced.

Hiruzen nodded, "It is indeed a fact that this exam decides what shinobi are worthy of such a promotion. However, on the other hand this exam has an ulterior motive of sorts, one where each countries shinobi risk their own life to protect their own countries prestige." Explained The Hokage.

Hiruzen continued, "Those who will be watching the third exam will be leaders and influential individuals. These individuals are from many countries that make up the clients of the shinobi villages. The leaders of these countries will also be there to witness your battles. If the strength of a country is clear then that country will receive more clients. But, if a country is perceived as weak then they will lose clients. This will also signal potential enemy countries that your country has power. As such this also sends a political message. " Finished the fire shadow.

"Yeah but why do we have to risk our own lives in battle?" Shikamaru asked, the thought of dying for someone else's entertainment not really sitting right with him.

'It does seem pretty barbaric.' Trunks thought to himself.

"The strength of a country is measured by the strength of the village, the strength of a village is measured by the strength of its shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength can only be shown by a life risking battle. This exam is a place to showcase each village's strength as well as your own. It only has meaning because lives are at risk, and that is why those that came before you have fought in the Chuunin Exam." finished Sarutobi.

"I still don't get what this has to do with friendship." Stated Sakura.

"I said it before in the beginning, that I didn't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance. That is the shape of friendship in the shinobi world." Said the Sandaime before taking a hit from his pipe. "Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test; it is a life risking battle with your dreams and countries prestige on the line."

"Any test is fine, just tell me what the details of the exam are already. I can handle anything you throw at me." Said Gaara impatiently.

"*cough* Actually Hokage-sama, as the referee would you please allow me, Hayate Gekkou to explain." Said a jonin as he appeared crouched before the Sandaime.

"By all means." Said Sarutobi taking a step back.

Naruto and Trunks were actually glad to see the sickly man who had trained them that short while back.

"*cough* Hello everyone, I will be your referee. Before we can *cough* begin the third test I need to inform you that we need to go through a preliminary event before we can move on to the main exam." Explained the sickly Jonin.

"Preliminary?!" Kiba's exclaimed, "We just got done grinding through the last exam, don't we get a break?!"

"Two days really isn't enough." Ino noted.

"I understand, but the first two exams may have been too easy this year, we have too many people. According to the Chuunin Exams rules we must hold a preliminary and reduce the number of people for the third test. As Hokage- *cough* sama indicated there will be many guests attending and we don't need to overwhelm them." Explained Hayate.

That made enough sense to the Genin, even though they didn't like it.

"Anyway, those who aren't feeling well or feel like quitting after these explanations please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminary immediately." Said Hayate calmly. No hands rose.

Kabuto was tempted to quit, but he could sense Orochimaru's presence among the Jonin standing with the Hokage. He knew if he dropped out the sannin would have his head on a spike. He kept his hand dropped.

"No one? Excellent." Hayate said as he pointed to a large screen built into the wall. It was just to the right of a colossal statue of a shinobi's handsigns built into the wall. "Your names will be chosen at random," Hayate said, "the two combatants will fight with no restrictions on weapons, Jutsu, or special abilities. There will be no penalty if one of you happens to die, but if I feel a match needs to be stopped I'll be the one to end it." The screen began scrolling through the names of everyone present.

 **'UCHIHA SASUKE vs AKADO YOROI'**

Sasuke grinned when he saw his name, 'Hm, well aren't I lucky.'

"Will all but the combatants please proceed into the balconies." Hayate asked. As the Genin turned, Hayate called out our two heroes, "Naruto, Trunks, I'm expecting great things from you two."

With a grin the two responded, "Yes Hayate-sensei." Before they proceeded up the stairs with everyone else.

Kakashi approached Sasuke. "I know about the mark, Sasuke. Do _not_ use your sharingan or any jutsu." The Jonin said, making Sasuke's eyes widen, "If it becomes an issue for you during the fight, I will stop it. Good luck." He said as he too went up the stairs to join the rest of his students.

Sasuke sighed and stared down his opponent. Somehow he could tell that the masked shinobi was smirking at him. Without his sharingan, Sasuke could tell that this fight would be a dozen times more challenging, but he was still gonna make sure he beat this guy to a pulp. He got into a fighting stance.

Sakura, Trunks, and Naruto stood up on the balcony, nervously anticipating the upcoming fight, and if the Uchiha would be okay. Naruto and Trunks disregarded the upcoming footsteps that they knew as Kakashi's, but Sakura turned to her sensei,

"Kakashi-sensei, will Sasuke-kun be alright?" The pinkette asked.

"To be honest Sakura, I don't know. We'll just have to see how things play out." Kakashi said as he leaned against the wall.

"Hey Kakashi, do you really think it's a good idea for Sasuke to stay here?" Trunks asked, "Ever since he's gotten the mark he's been more aggressive. And not just to his enemies."

Kakashi kept his single eye on Sasuke, "It's a side effect that comes with being marked. But you shouldn't worry about him, I'll take care of Sasuke after this match."

Hayate stood in between Sasuke and Yoroi. "Begin when ready."

The match between Sasuke and Yoroi was a fairly interesting event. All who were present were surprised by Yoroi's chakra absorption technique, something that put the Uchiha on the defensive for the majority of the match. Team 7 along with the rest of the audience learned just how talented Sasuke truly was, with him managing to take advantage of his sharingan even without him being able to use it during the fight. Apparently, he managed to copy one of Lee's taijutsu moves and made it his own, dubbing it the 'Lions Barrage'. The move left Yoroi a battered mess being taken away on a stretcher, and Sasuke being taken away by Kakashi.

Over the course of the fight Naruto grew giddy, eager at the chance to have his match. Now that he knew Sasuke would be moving on he knew he had to as well. As the names cycled on the big screen he chanted in his head, 'Come on...come one...come on.'

' **ABURAME SHINO vs ABUMI ZAKU'**

'Damn it!' Naruto cursed.

Zaku's face twisted in anger, "I don't wanna fight this loser, I wanna fight Uzumaki." He said to Hayate as he and Shino stood on the arena floor.

Hayate shrugged, "Sorry, *cough* not gonna happen. If you would like to challenge him to a *cough* friendly spar outside the exam then that's perfectly ok." The Jonin raised his arm and dropped it, "Begin!"

Zaku hadn't stood a chance against Shino, even worse considering the former only had one hand to fight with in the first place. Although Shino revealed himself to be rather merciful, giving Zaku the chance to forfeit before he destroyed his other arm. Zaku, being the hard headed bastard that he was decided to attack Shino anyways, sending a blast of pressurized air at the Aburame who burst into a cloud of insects.

Even after being faced with a wall of insects behind him, and Shino standing out in front of him, Zaku still refused to forfeit. He tried blasting Shino again only for his one remaining arm to explode. According to the Aburame heir, he had ordered his insects to clog the hole in Zaku's wind chamber, causing the pressure to build up in Zaku's arm and make it burst. In that instance Shino was declared the winner.

"And there goes his last hand." Trunks said casually as Zaku was carted off.

"Yeah," Naruto said, "You think it's possible to wipe your ass with your foot?"

Trunks shrugged, "Let's give it a couple of months and we'll ask him." He said jokingly.

"You guys are so mean." Sakura said with a small laugh.

As soon as Shino came back up the stairs Kakashi appeared behind his students. The first thing to come to Sakura's mind, she spoke, "Kakashi, is Sasuke-"

"Okay?" The scarecrow finished for her, "Yeah, he's just fine. Right now he's getting some rest."

That relieved the three Genin knowing their teammate was alright.

 **'TSUCHI KIN vs NARA SHIKAMARU'**

Shikamaru groaned, "Oh great, I gotta fight a girl?"

"Quit complaining Shikamaru, you could beat that hussy down easily." Ino said. Choji agreed with her by nodding.

"Good luck Shikamaru." Asuma said.

'Yeah, yeah, whatever.' The Nara thought as he went down the stairs.

Surprisingly, Ino had been right. Shikamaru managed to take down Kin without too much difficulty. Despite his laziness, Shikamaru, as always, showed just how much of a genius he could be when it came to tactics during a battle. He'd played defense for most of the match allowing Kin to show and explain her technique. Kin had been bombarding him with senbon after senbon for the majority of the match and somewhere along the line she'd sent out two senbon with bells attached to the end of them. Apparently she'd also attached wires to those senbon so that she could ring the bells and screw with Shikamaru's head.

Unfortunately for Kin, she forgot one crucial thing, wires as thin as hers shouldn't have left a shadow on the ground. Because of this Shikamaru had been able to use his Shadow Possession Jutsu to connect their shadows and play it off as just the wires. Then with a simple bluff using some shuriken he'd been able to knock her out by leaning back and slamming her head into the wall. Once Kin was cleared from the floor the names cycled on the board.

' **BRIEF TRUNKS vs YAKUSHI KABUTO** '

'There's no way my luck could be this bad.' Kabuto grieved.

"Well what do you know, looks like I'm up." Trunks said with a smirk.

"Lucky." Naruto pouted.

"Good luck Trunks-kun." Sakura said. Kakashi gave the saiyan an eye smile as a silent wish of luck.

Trunks hopped over the railing and landed gently on the arena floor, awaiting Kabuto who was apprehensively coming down the steps.

"Come on Trunks beat that four eyed creep into the ground!" Ino called from the stands making Kabuto deadpan and Trunks sweat drop. The others from the balcony found the call a bit humorous, admittedly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes knowing that he would have to put up with her fan girling for the entire fight.

When Kabuto stood face to face with Trunks, his mind began processing any sort of strategies he could use to bring the saiyan down. He knew Orochimaru wouldn't want Trunks dead, but he knew that Trunks would seriously maim him if given the chance. His only chance would be to hope that Trunks wouldn't fight to kill, and he could strike first.

"Hey Kabuto," Trunks said getting the spy's attention, "I know you're a lot stronger than you let on. Don't hold back, okay."

"Oh... Okay." Kabuto said awkwardly. He didn't think the saiyan would be willing to fight him honorably. Or maybe it was because he led him to think he was an ally in the forest of death? Either way, Trunks was looking for a friendly fight and that was gonna be his downfall. Kabuto inwardly smirked.

The saiyan got into the same fighting stance his master Gohan taught him, waiting for Hayate to green light the match.

"Begin!" Hayate called before leaping back.

Almost faster than Trunks could react Kabuto's hand shot at the saiyans face. Trunks managed to tilt his head just barely enough to dodge the edge of the spy's palm. Trunks was now fully on the defensive as Kabuto threw a flurry of knife palm strikes that Trunks barely dodged. Through Trunks's shaky vision as a result of his high-octane movement, he could see a light green flame emanating around Kabuto's hand. He didn't know what it would do, and he wasn't ready to find out.

Kabuto sent a knife strike to the saiyans stomach, a strike which Trunks barely hopped back to dodge. Trunks cursed himself. He knew Kabuto was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this _fast_. He was on Trunks like white on rice and all the saiyan could do was dodge, if he blocked he would risk coming into contact with Kabuto's hand, and the spectacled ninja wasn't giving him enough movement room to fly up or away.

Naruto was practically leaning over the rail, "Whoa, I had no idea Kabuto was that fast. He's gotta be at least as fast as you Kakashi-sensei." From the blondes and the rest of the genins perspectives, Kabuto's arms were blurs that were shooting at the saiyans constantly blurring body, showing he was barely dodging.

Kakashi's eye squinted suspiciously, "You're right Naruto, he is pretty fast." 'And that's the problem,' Kakashi thought, 'It's not likely that a Genin could move fast enough to put Trunks on his toes, especially to that extent. We'll need to look into that.'

Even the Hokage was suspicious. He called over an Anbu, "Do some research on Yakushi Kabuto. Find out his background and who his Jonin sensei is." he ordered.

"Yes Hokage-sama." The Anbu bowed before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Kabuto struck his hand at Trunks's leg, and when the saiyan tried to dodge the spy faked him out and tapped his left forearm.

The instant Kabuto's hand made contact with the limb Trunks cried out, feeling the appendage go numb. It flopped down lifelessly to Trunks side, making the saiyan grab it on instinct. Kabuto used this opportunity to strike Trunks's right leg, making that limb go numb as well.

Not seeing any other option the saiyan did the first thing he could before Kabuto finished him off. Cry out and send forth a shockwave and aura from his ki, making the silver haired nin stumble back so he could have enough time to fly into the air to gather his bearings.

Trunks was high up enough to where his head nearly touched the ceiling. His leg dangled lifelessly while he held his limp and unresponsive arm. 'Wh-what did he just do to me?' Trunks wondered at the smirking ninja down on the arena floor.

Naruto was the first to call out Trunks's condition, "Kakashi-sensei, Trunks can't use his arm!"

"Yeah, I know." The scarecrow said, his voice showing heavy concern, "It looks like Kabuto paralyzed him."

"Paralyzed!?" Naruto, Sakura, and Ino exclaimed.

"You mean Trunks can't use his arm or leg anymore? Like, ever again?!" Ino asked dreadfully. She knew that Trunks was a fighter, so if he couldn't use either limb again then it was bye-bye to his shinobi career.

"It depends on what he cut." The Jonin said, "Kabuto could have cut the nerves, the muscles, or depending on his skill level switched some nerves around." The Jonin explained, 'Although, no Genin should have that kind of medical knowledge. If he did manage to permanently shut down Trunks' arm and leg then he is definitely someone we'd need to bring in for questioning.'

Gai smirked, "Well Kakashi, I hate to tell you but it looks like Trunks is finished. That Kabuto kid showed that he could match him in speed and since he took out one of Trunks arms he's got an even bigger advantage."

Naruto and Ino were ready to jump down Gai's throat, but the copy-ninja spoke up for them, "Actually Gai, Trunks still has one more trick up his sleeve. He just has to buy himself enough time to use it."

This grabbed Lee's attention, "What is it?"

"Super saiyan."

"Super what?" Ino asked the Jonin.

"Just watch the fight Ino-pig." Sakura grunted.

Trunks tried moving his arm, getting nothing but a twitch in return. He saw Kabuto smirk up at him before sprinting to the side, heading directly for the arena wall. Trunks fired a flurry of ki blasts that the spy blurred past, narrowly missing the mini explosions that would erupt behind him. The balls of energy weren't powerful enough to swallow up the stage, being concentrated and controlled enough to just shatter and scorch the tile that it hit.

As Kabuto reached the wall he began running up it, intending on reaching Trunks' level to launch at the saiyan. Trunks' hand then held a large blue sphere, "Burning Storm!" The spears of ki shot at the spy who, for a split second, held a moment of worry in his eyes before he performed a front handspring while running vertically along the wall. Although he dodge the ki blasts themselves, the explosions still hit him. Or, the shockwaves did. One particular shockwave came much too close and completely threw Kabuto off his feet and off the wall. In an act of quick thinking, Kabuto managed to use that to his advantage, letting the force propel him toward the saiyan, effectively surprising him.

Trunks' heart skipped a beat, even going so far as to skip an extra beat as Kabuto pulled his glowing hand back, preparing a strike that he knew he couldn't block. Time slowed time for him as his saiyan reflexes kicked in. What attack could he use on the fly that would get him out of this stitch and buy him enough time to transform? 'Let's hope I can use this with one hand.' Trunks prayed as he brought his hand up to his temple, fingers spread apart, " **Taiyoken**!"

A bright flash of light filled the stadium and filled the spectators eyes, 'I'll apologize for that later.' Trunks thought before taking advantage of Kabuto's blindness and kicking him in the side of the head, sending him plummeting to the arena floor. 'Now's my chance!' Trunks smirked as he began building up his energy.

"That bastard could have gave us a warning." Kiba grunted as he rubbed away at his eyes.

Kakashi, Neji, and Hinata were thanking Kami that they didn't have their dojutsu activated. That would have led to some very serious problems if they did.

A scream tore through the air, making the spectators force open their eyes to see the phenomena. Everyone except Team 7 was in awe at Trunks' state.

"Wh-what the hell is that?!" Temari exclaimed as she and Kankuro practically leaned over the railing. Gaara's eyes were wide open in a psychotic smile, practically salivating at the lips.

Every single Konoha shinobi except for Team 7 and the Hokage found themselves leaning over the railing, trying to make sense of the warrior before them.

"I-Is that, Trunks?" Ino asked, her eyes glued on the saiyan staying suspended in the air.

Naruto nodded, "Yup, and he just transformed into a bigger badass."

'He looks like an angel.' Ino thought in awe.

Neji activated his Byakugan, and took a look at Trunks' chakra coils. When he did, his eyes widened in horror, "Impossible, his ki, it's... It's pouring out of him like a waterfall."

Kakashi eye smiled at Gai who's fists were clenched in slight jealousy. Rock Lee mirrored his sensei's actions, although, he wasn't jealous. He remembered the spar he and the saiyan had and when his eyes turned green, much like they are now. Now he was certain that Trunks was above him, and that made him smile. Now he had a new goal to reach.

Kabuto stepped back up to his feet, his senses still a bit swirly from Trunks's kick to his temple. As he looked up at the Demi-saiyan, his eyes widened and he gulped. Trunks smirked at the spy, knowing he had this match in the bag.

Kabuto was suddenly knocked into the air like a rag doll. The saiyan had apparently moved so fast that he left an afterimage behind, dumbfounding the audience as they swore Trunks hadn't moved. The Demi-saiyan stood in the spot that Kabuto once did, leg extended emphasizing he kicked him. As Kabuto's body neared the ceiling of the arena, Trunks landed a bone shattering punch to the older teenagers jaw, shooting him across the ceiling like a bullet. The spectacled medic nin still wasn't given a break as Trunks grabbed him by the ankle, flew to the ground and slammed Kabuto down on his back, shattering the already abused floor even further, a forming a series of spider web cracks that spread all the way up to the wall that held the spectators.

Trunks panted as he climbed up off of Kabuto, wincing at the battered form of the sound spy. The silver haired shinobi was covered in purple and black bruises, his nose was busted with blood leaking profusely from the nostrils, his glasses were practically disintegrated, and his mouth hung open, a sign that the punch Trunks landed really did shatter it.

Shikamaru whistled, "That had to hurt." Which was an understatement.

Kakashi shook his head, 'And that's the reason he's still one of the only

Genin I would never fight.' He thought.

Trunks dropped his super saiyan form as Hayate came over to inspect Kabuto. After feeling for a pulse he gave the audience the 'ok' sign before calling over the medics. "The winner of this match, Trunks Brief."

A series of cheers and applause came from Naruto, Ino, Sakura, Tenten, and Rock Lee.

A Jonin who held a snake like look in his gaze shook his head in disappointment as Kabuto was carted off, '*sigh*, I'll need to have a little chat with Kabuto-Kun. One would think he have learned how much I despise failure.' Orochimaru thought.

Kakashi helped Trunks to the infirmary, as the names cycled for the next combatants.

XXX

A/N: I know some of you are probably wanting to jump my throat for that dry Kabuto fight, but believe me, I don't think Kabuto would stand a chance against Trunks in a fair match. I had to stretch out the fight with dialogue so it wouldn't be over in one paragraph, so it is what it is. But anyways, first set of fights done. Next chapter we finish off the prelims.

Oh yeah, and I also want to let you know that the combo Trunks used on Kabuto was called 'Fierce Combination' it's something Future Gohan used against Future #17.


	18. Preliminaries (Part 2)

A/N: And here we continue with these exams!

XXX

'Damnit damnit damnit!' Naruto screamed in his head at the names shining up on the screen.

 **'SABAKU NO KANKURO vs TSURUGI MISUMI'**

The ever-growing anxiety was almost too much for the Jinchuuriki to bear. His eagerness to have his match was almost prompting him to rip his hair out.

Sakura noticed Naruto's fidgeting and gave him a mean glare, "Seriously Naruto, calm down. Everyone's going."

"I don't wanna wait anymore." Naruto pouted as he slouched forward over the railing. Sakura rolled her eyes.

XXX

Trunks and Kakashi were within the infirmary of the red tower. Trunks sat upon a medical bed while Kakashi leaned against the wall of the medical room, watching as the doctor prodded the saiyans limp arm and leg, trying to see just what exactly the cause of damage was.

"Tell me if you feel this." The doctor said as he ran the tip of a scalpel from Trunks hand up his forearm.

"Nothing." The saiyan said disappointedly.

"How about this?" The Doctor brought, scalpel up above Trunks elbow and ran it along his tricep and bicep.

Trunks eyes lit up at the slight tingling sensation that could be felt from the scalpel, "Yeah, I do actually. But just a little bit."

"What does that mean?" Kakashi asked as the doctor released Trunks's arm.

The man's eyebrow furrowed in thought, "Whatever technique that his opponent used severed the nerves completely in his forearm, that's why it's shut down. But, the fact that Trunks here still has feeling in his upper arm and shoulder means that the guy got sloppy." He tapped Trunks's lame leg, "Same situation for his leg."

"Can it be fixed?" Kakashi asked.

The air of uncertainty that built up around the doctor made Trunks gulp.

"It can be fixed," the doctor started, making Trunks sigh in relief, "but," Trunks became nervous again, "This is something that will take months of physical therapy."

"Months?!" Trunks exclaimed, "I still have to participate in the exams. I need at least my arm back." If the saiyan couldn't use his arm during a fight, then he would be at a severe disadvantage. He felt that it was only luck that helped him in his match with Kabuto. What if Trunks had to fight someone stronger?

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" The copy-ninja asked. He knew Trunks wanted to be a part of the exams, and he knew getting put at a disadvantage or worse, disqualified would be a crappy way to end the experience.

The doctor shook his head, "I'm sorry, but it is what is. I would ask for Trunks to be put on bed rest, but I'm sure he wants to watch his friends fights. So, I'll put his arm in a sling and he'll use a crutch for his leg, but only for the remainder of the prelims. After that, he'll need to stay in bed." The doctor said to which Kakashi disappointedly nodded. Trunks frowned.

This really sucked.

XXX

The match between Kankuro and Misumi was rather brutal. Misumi displayed a body modification of his that allowed his limbs to stretch and twist like they were made of elastic. When the spectacled ninja finally restricted Kankuro, he threatened to break every limb in the sand teens body. But, that's when the twist happened.

The bandaged rig that Kankuro kept tied behind his back turned out to be a puppet. And he used that very puppet to substitute for his body to deceive Misumi and snapped the shinobis back, making Misumi the first fatality of the matches.

The remaining Genin could see Kakashi and Trunks re-enter the arena, Trunks's left arm in a sling while he used a wooden crutch to support his right leg. Coming up the stairs was something that they thought would be taxing for him but the saiyan just floated up over the steps.

'I wonder if I can learn how to fly?' Temari thought as she gawked at the saiyan.

"Hey Trunks, you're back!" Naruto ran up to the saiyan.

"They say what was wrong with your arm?" Ino asked as she approached the saiyan.

"Some cut nerves, that's all. Still, my doctors say it'll take a few months before my arm and leg will be back to normal."

"Months?! How are you gonna continue the exams?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's what I said, but there's nothing I can do about it." Trunks said.

"That really sucks." Sakura said sympathetically.

"It'll be alright, I'm a survivor so I'll make it." Trunks said assuringly to his friends.

The names on the board cycled, shifting everyone's attention to it.

" **HYUUGA NEJI vs HYUUGA HINATA** "

A terrified gasp escaped Hinata's lips at her opponent's name shining bright for all to see. The Jonin grimaced as well over the imminent danger the Hyuuga heir was now placed in.

'Hinata...' Kurenai watched as he student timidly walked down to the battle floor.

Neji scowled at his cousin, "You should give up. You know that you weren't meant to be a shinobi. You were brought up spoiled and pampered as the heir of the main branch." Neji scolded, "You seek to comfort and avoid confrontation, you lack talent, you lack experience, you lack self-confidence, and you lack the will to be a proper shinobi. The only reason you are apart of these exams is because you couldn't bear the thought of holding your teammates back. That is a fact and you know it."

Hinata shook her head, "No Neji-Nii-san, I was just wanting to change, a-and"

"Prove yourself as a shinobi?" Neji finished for her, "Do you really think that fate would allow the likes of a spoiled princess to advance further in this lifestyle?" Neji snapped into a Jyuuken stance, "I will offer you one chance to quit and spare yourself any further humiliation."

"Wait a minute," Trunks spoke up, "Those two are siblings right? Why's Neji picking on her?"

"Well, they're not exactly brother and sister." Kakashi said, garnering Trunks and Sakura's full attention. "They both come from one of Konoha's most prestigious families, the Hyuuga. They're more cousins, instead of siblings."

"That still doesn't explain why Neji's treating her like that." Naruto said darkly. He didn't appreciate Neji's talk of 'fate' and 'destiny' that he was giving Hinata. What did he know? Who was he to say what someone was meant to do or not do? It did warm his heart a bit to see that Hinata wasn't backing down to her cousin's words, and instead activated her Byakugan to match his.

"There are two branches within clan Hyuuga;" Gai said, his voice having taken on a more serious tone in contrast to his laid back and jolly banters of youth, "Hinata-chan is from the Main House, and Neji-kun is from the Branch house."

"And lemme guess," Shikamaru cut in, "The branches don't like each other?"

"Precisely." Gai nodded, keeping his eyes on the fight between family happening down below him, "The two houses are often at odds because the Main house doesn't consider the Branch house as equals; thinking them as nothing more than servants, or to be blunt, slaves. It's said that the Main House keeps the Branch sector in line with a curse seal of some sort."

"But how could Neji blame Hinata?" Ino said, "It's not her fault she was born to a higher class."

Kakashi shrugged, "Maybe not. But that's not how Neji sees it. As a matter of fact, he holds a grudge against Hinata herself."

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

Gai was the one to answer, "When Hinata and Neji were kids, Konoha was just concluding a war with the Cloud village. The delegation from Cloud agreed to come to our village to discuss peace treaty, but that was only a cover for their real intentions. During the deliberations, a Cloud-nin broke into the Hyuuga mansion and kidnapped Hinata in her sleep. Hiashi, the head of the clan, killed the man, but his identity turned out to be the chief delegate. Cloud, feeling their offer at peace was refused, demanded that Hiashi be killed and his head delivered to them as proof."

"I'm guessing that wasn't the real reason." Trunks said.

Gai shook his head, "No. The real reason was that they wanted to take the Byakugan and implant it in their own shinobi and gain one of the most valuable dojutsu in the world. To prevent this, Hiashi's younger brother and Neji's father, Hizashi, volunteered to be killed in his brother's place, thus sparing Hiashi from death and preventing the Cloud from gaining the Byakugan since when Branch members die, their Byakugan becomes disabled."

Trunks could somewhat understand where Neji's anger was coming from; losing a father at such a young age was terrible, but he shouldn't be blaming his cousin for it. But regardless, Hinata may have been in bigger trouble than they thought.

Hinata sent out a palm strike that Neji weaved back and dodged, returning the favor with two strikes to Hinata's chest and shoulder. Hinata may not have looked like much, but she was determined. It was obvious to every one of the spectators that Neji was the superior fighter in all areas of the fight, but Hinata still pushed back, trading blows with her prodigy of a cousin.

Naruto, being the wide-eyed idealist that he was, found it impossible for Hinata to lose to Neji. She was like him, a hard worker. She was a good person and Neji was a prick. There was no way the world would allow her to lose, right?

"Come on Hinata, you can beat that bastard I know you can!" Naruto cheered from the balcony.

Hinata was exhausted and her body was growing sore and stiff. She knew that her chances for victory were slim, but the boy that she secretly loved believed in her. He was someone that she could never let down.

'I'll win Naruto-kun, I'll do for you.' Hinata declared, even after taking a rough blow to the stomach that knocked her back several paces.

The young prodigy found this whole match pointless, "Why do you continue to struggle?" Neji asked, dropping his battle stance for the moment. "You know you were meant to fail these exams the moment I became your opponent Hinata-chan."

Naruto snarled, his hands gripping the metal of the railing even tighter, "There he goes with that 'destiny' crap again. He's gonna feel pretty fucking stupid when he loses."

"I'm s-sorry, Neji-nii-san," Hinata painfully wheezed, "but I cannot quit n-now, I-I have a dream that I will pursue, and I promised m-myself that I would make it come true." through her pained expression, she still choked out, "I will change the w-ways of the Hyuuga, all in the name of uncle Hizashi!"

Neji's fists clenched tight, tight enough for the sound of his skin straining to become audible, "Don't you ever speak of my father!" through gritted teeth he fumed, "you are treading on very thin ice now Hinata."

"I'm sorry Neji-kun, about you and uncle, but that is why I will change the clan, so that these tragedies will never happen again. I never go back on my word." Her eyes trailed up to Naruto.

"You tell 'em Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted exuberantly from the balcony. "Show that bastard what you can do!"

It became blatantly obvious to Trunks whom Hinata was referencing. Now that he thought about it, she was always staring at the blonde. And whenever the blonde looked back she would look as if she would faint. And then there was the issue of her stuttering whenever she talked to Naruto; sure she was always a little timid, but whenever Naruto was brought into the equation her shyness would get 10x worse.

'Of course.' Trunks mentally slapped himself, 'She likes Naruto, duh.' He jokingly told himself. The whiskered Jinchuuriki was probably too dense to notice it, not that the saiyan could talk though.

"Tragedy!" Neji spat, "That's what the Main Branch calls my father's death, and the abuse we've endured for generations? Tragedies!?" He thundered.

"N-no! Brother Neji-"

"Shut up." Neji ordered, "I am not your brother, I am not your cousin, and we are not family." He ground out through gritted teeth.

That hit hurt worse than punch. Hinata's lips began trembling. Her expression was that of someone who was about to break down. She pulled herself together, "Maybe brother, you have it backwards." She spoke softly, "Maybe it's you who is miserable, because fate will forever bind you to a life without a father's love, and to a suffering Branch."

Neji's face twisted in fury. Roaring in anger he charged at Hinata who hesitantly charged at him. With both Hyuugas bringing back their hands, they prepared to strike.

The sound of a blow landing became clear to the audience's ears, but from the angle they were watching, they couldn't see who got hit first.

*Thu-Thump*

Hinata coughed up a mouth full of blood before she looked down, Neji's palm placed in the center of her chest.

*Th-Thump*

Neji smirked before slamming his opposite palm into Hinata's stomach, throwing her off her feet and back several paces.

She lay on her back, unmoving.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried as he leaped over the railing. The rest of the rookie 10 followed suit as Neji was restrained by Hayate, Gai, Kurenai, and Kakashi.

The rookie 10 was surrounding the Hyuuga heiress, with Naruto kneeled down right next to her unconscious form. "Hinata?" He couldn't explain why, but seeing her in this poor of condition hurt worse than if Sakura were. He and the others shuddered as a wave of blood splashed from Hinata's mouth and stained the cement floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Sakura asked the Jonin.

Kurenai kneeled to her student and placed her ear to her chest, "It's her heart, the blow must have damaged it." Hayate motioned for the medics.

Gai glared angrily to his student, "Neji, what were you thinking? You promised me you wouldn't let this match become a personal issue."

Neji angrily tried to shove the Jonin off of him, and at the same time avoided the question, "Why are you and the others butting in?! The head family gets special treatment huh?"

Naruto's anger grew as he watched Hinata's incapacitated form be carted off by the medics. It was enough for his eyes to flash crimson for a split second. He watched as Neji was escorted back to the balconies, the prodigy being scolded by Gai and Kakashi over his willingness to murder his own cousin. The blonde looked to the small puddle of blood beneath him, Hinata's blood, before swiping his right hand through it, 'Hinata, I will avenge you. I give you my word.' He clenched his fist, the red liquid seeping through his fingers, 'I vow to win!'

The names cycled, **'HARUNO SAKURA vs YAMANAKA INO'**

The floor cleared for the two kunoichi to begin their match. Naruto and Trunks were most interested in the fight, with Naruto fully rooting for Sakura while Trunks was more neutral. The saiyan wanted to root for Sakura because she was his teammate, but he also wanted to root for Ino because the Yamanaka had always been nice to him.

Kakashi sighed and pulled out his Icha-Icha book, knowing that this match was going to be very long and drawn out.

Hayate gave the go ahead for the match to start, but similar to the Hyuuga's before them, they didn't begin fighting automatically.

Sakura smirked at her longtime rival, "I guess we've had this coming for a long time, huh Ino-pig?"

Ino smirked back, "Yeah, we have, but don't think for a second that I'm losing to you, whether in a fight, or in love."

Sakura snapped, "If you really think that Sasuke's gonna-"

"It's always about Sasuke with you, Billboard brow." Ino cut in, "It's been like that ever since we were kids; but news flash, I don't even like him anymore!" A series of shocked gasps sounded from the audience. Sakura's face turned red from embarrassment. "Yeah I know, surprise surprise, but I really don't like Sasuke anymore. For all I care, you can have him… there's someone else I like." At this her eyes flickered up to a certain Demi-saiyan. Trunks was oblivious to it, but the contact didn't go unnoticed by Asuma & Kakashi.

Sakura was almost speechless at the way Ino told her off. How could she come back at that? Red faced, she pulled out a trio of kunai and threw them at Ino, the Yamanaka mirroring her actions. The blades clashed in the air before falling, the two girls sprinted at each other, Sakura jumping into the air to perform a flying kick at Ino. The Yamanaka put up both of her arms to block but it still knocked her off balance.

In her anger Sakura punched and kicked at Ino wildly, the latter who had trouble blocking her attacks.

Ino threw a punch that connected to Sakura's cheek, knocking the pinkette back a couple of notches. The two got into fighting stances. Ino's arms were sore from the flurry of punches while Sakura sported a small red mark on her cheek from the punch Ino landed. In a silent challenge, the two shouted and charged back into action.

'Not bad,' Trunks thought as he watched the two girls engage in a dance of taijutsu. 'Their form leaves a lot to be desired, but if they got the proper training, they'd be really talented.'

The two girls let out battle cries as their fists collided with each others.

They stopped for a moment, the spectators weren't sure of what was going on in the girls heads, but there was this shimmer of regret, as if they were questioning what they were doing. The two shook away that feeling, 'No, I'm gonna win!' They thought in unison.

XXX

Trunks and Naruto stood side by side as the two girls were carried away on stretchers.

"Whoa, who'd have thought they would knock each other out." Naruto said.

"I'm more surprised that Ino could take over someone's body, now that's impressive." Trunks said as the girls were carted out.

Naruto crossed his fingers and closed his eyes as the names on the board cycled, 'Kami, if you let it be my turn next I swear I won't pull any pranks for the next two weeks.' He took a peek and jumped in joy,

' **INUZUKA KIBA vs UZUMAKI NARUTO** '

Kiba whooped, "Looks like we hit the jackpot Akamaru, we got the squirt!" Akamaru barked happily.

Trunks turned to his friend, "Good luck Naruto." He said before levitating back up to the balcony. The saiyan had no doubt in his mind that Naruto could take Kiba, or, maybe it was just his faith placed in him as his friend? The saiyan wasn't sure, but the blonde was known for surprises so Trunks would easily throw in his lot to his friend.

The hot-headed Uzumaki stood face to face with his equally hot-headed opponent. "I've been waiting forever for this, don't take it personally if I blow you away Kiba." Naruto challenged with a cocky smirk.

Kiba flared, "Oh yeah, we'll see about that, like we're gonna lose to the dead last of the class, right Akamaru?" Akamaru yipped in agreement.

When Kiba took Akamaru out of his jacket and placed the pup next to him, that's when Naruto had an issue, "Uh, Hayate-sensei, is that fair?" The blonde said referring to the small white dog next to Kiba.

The sickly proctor nodded,"Yes Naruto, dogs are just as much a tool to a ninja as food pills and scrolls are."

The Uzumaki shrugged at Kiba, "Whatever, I'll take you and your stupid yapping dog by myself."

"You talk a lot of crap for a little shrimp." Kiba scoffed before pulling out a small plastic container with bite-sized brown balls. He popped one in his mouth and fed one to Akamaru. Naruto could sense the two's chakra spike through the roof, and Akamaru's white fur darken into a bloody crimson.

"Wait, what just happened Kakashi-sensei? What did Kiba take?" Trunks asked his Jonin.

"Their called food pills, or military ration pills. Their meant to restore the consumers chakra and give them enough energy to fight for three days and nights." The copy-ninja explained.

'So they're about this world's equivalent to senzu beans, without the healing bonus.' Trunks thought.

Naruto smirked at the Inuzuka, "You and your pooch need to get strung out on drugs to even the odds; fine by me." He formed three shadow clones, "Whatever gives you an advantage." The clones said in unison.

"I'm gonna rip that smug little grin off your face runt." Kiba said, getting irritated by Naruto's mouth. Kiba leaned over on to all fours and Akamaru jumped up on his back.

" **Ninpou! Juujuin no Jutsu!** "

There was a burst of smoke and now two feral-looking Kiba's were crouching in front of the Naruto's.

Without warning, in an explosion of movement the opposing forces shot at each other. Kiba and Akamaru were clearly the faster of the combatants, moving in a blur that destroyed the bunshins and knocked Naruto on his back.

Kiba snickered, "Just as I thought, all that big talk and you couldn't even back it up." Akamaru also snickered at the downed Uzumaki.

Kurenai smirked at Kakashi, "Hm, sorry Kakashi but it looks like Kiba's already won. With a single punch at that." She said pridefully at her students success. Not like it was a surprise to her, Kiba was second to Sasuke in terms of skill, and third to Trunks in terms of rank at the academy. It was just Naruto's bad luck he had to face him.

"I wouldn't jump the gun just yet Kurenai. Look." Kakashi said.

A faint laughter could be heard from the Uzumaki, making Kiba and Akamaru raise eyebrows in question.

"That was your best punch? Give me a break, and I even let you have that free shot in." The Jinchuuriki got back to his feet, wiping away a trail of blood running at the side of his mouth. He made another hand sign, " **Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

The entirety of the arena floor became filled with Naruto clones.

Kiba and Akamaru showed visible signs of fear at the sea of orange they were thrown in. "Akamaru, Gatsuuga, now!" Kiba told his ninken partner who nodded before the clones moved in on them. The two Inuzuka's shot to their sides, becoming a set of horizontal twisters that tore up the floor and shredded through the clones like weeds through a weed eater. From the mass popping of clones in such a short time, the arena grew filled with smoke that began obscuring the spectator's vision.

What they were able to notice, were two Naruto's leap high into the air as the Inuzuka's kept shredding the other copies.

Mirroring the others actions, the two Naruto's hands shifted through handsigns, "Futon: Renkudan!" The two said in unison as the air balls fired from their mouths and down onto the twisters.

"Wait what!? How can he use a bunshin and a ninjutsu at the same time?!" Tenten asked.

"That's some impressive chakra Naruto has." Gai admitted.

The flurry of air balls poured down directly on top of one of the twisters, picking up a cloud of dust that made Kiba stop and shield his eyes. "Akamaru!" He cried out as the dust settled, revealing the unconscious white dog lying in a heap. He grit his teeth in fury at the remaining Naruto's surrounding him.

"Sorry about that Kiba, but I did warn you I would beat you guys into the dirt." Naruto said. "Now I think I'm gonna try out this ultra cool combo I've been working on." Kiba was suddenly mobbed by the clones. He received a fist to his face, dazing him, " **NA** -" he was kicked into the air, " **RU** -" Kiba received a foot to his chin, " **TO** " The real Naruto appeared higher than Kiba and dropped an axe-kick to his face, sending him plummeting into the floor, " **UZUMAKI BARRAGE**!"

The Inuzuka was out like a light.

Hayate gave the Uzumaki a nod of approval after he checked out Kiba's body, "The winner, Uzumaki Naruto."

The Uzumaki whooped in joy as his clones dispersed. Lee and Trunks went down to congratulate the Jinchuuriki.

Kurenai, Shikamaru, Choji, and Shino were left in shock by the outcome.

"I can't believe it, Naruto took down Kiba?!" Choji exclaimed.

"And he didn't even break a sweat." Shikamaru shuddered.

'Unbelievable,' Kurenai thought, 'For the longest time, Kiba was comparable to Sasuke in terms of skill. The fact that Naruto took him out without much effort, just how well could he compare to the Uchiha?'

Kakashi noticed the look on the Genjutsu masters face and he eye smiled, 'That's what happens when you underestimate my team, Kurenai.' He watched the battered Kiba and Akamaru get carted out, 'And that's what happens when you underestimate Naruto.'

 **'TENTEN vs SABAKU NO TEMARI'**

Gai and Lee cheered on the weapons mistress, but unfortunately, she was nothing but light work to Temari. The daughter of the Kazekage proved herself to be a ruthless fighter, taunting Tenten as she deflected most of the kunoichi's weapons with her fan.

The unconscious Tenten was caught by her back on the tip of Temari's fan, by the grace of Kami her spine didn't break. Smirking, Temari tossed Tenten off where she would land on a bed of her own ninja blades only to be caught by Lee.

As the arena floor cleared in preparation of the next match, Ino and Sakura returned to the balconies, smiling and walking side by side like they were friends again, or at least were able to tolerate each other's presence again.

"Hey guys, what did we miss?" Sakura asked as she and the blonde approached Trunks and Naruto.

Trunks was a bit surprised at seeing the girls friendly air to each other, but proceeded to answer their question "Oh, hey Sakura, Ino, you guys missed quite a bit. Naruto just-"

"Kicked Kiba's butt!" The Jinchuuriki said boastfully.

Ino quirked an eyebrow, "You really beat Kiba?" She said in disbelief. Sakura was equally surprised. The girls looked to Trunks for confirmation, the saiyan nodding,

"Yeah, he did. To be blunt, he mopped the floor with him." The saiyan said.

The pinkette and the platinum blonde exchanged looks that said 'Didn't see that coming.' They looked to the match-maker.

 **'ROCK LEE vs SABAKU NO GAARA'**

Lee jumped around in joy at his match-up. The entire time the names were shuffling he was telling himself that he didn't want to go, just so the universe and reverse-psychology would come into play.

After the match started, the spectators were already given a jaw dropping presentation of Gaara's abilities. He used his own sand.

No matter where Lee punched or kicked Gaara's sand would spring up to block the strike.

It was then made known that Gaara could attack with his sand was well, forcing the taijutsu specialist to go on the defensive and dodge the attacks.

"I don't understand;" Sakura said, "Why is Lee only using taijutsu and attacking up close, he should be using ninjutsu and attack from a distance." She said as she watched the bowl-cut shinobi duke it out with the Suna-nin.

'Either way, it doesn't look like anythings getting through that sand.' Trunks thought, 'I wonder if a ki blast would be enough.' Though he thought it was unlikely.

Gai answered Sakura's question, "That's simple Sakura-chan, Lee doesn't use ninjutsu for one simple reason. He can't." Stunned looks were earned all around, "That's right, Lee was born without the ability to meld his chakra like other children. For this reason he has no ability at all to use Genjutsu or ninjutsu, but, that's why we put all of our time and effort into perfecting his taijutsu, making him more skilled than any Genin and a lot of Chunin."

That first part of what Gai said really intrigued the saiyan, 'Unable to meld chakra? Hm, I wonder if it would be possible to teach him ki.'

"But still," Sakura said, "Lee might be fast, but he's still not able to get through Gaara's defenses. And if he can't do that then he can't win.'

A light smirk made its way across Gai's features, "On the contrary, we have a trump card." He shouted out, "Lee!" He grabbed his students attention, "Take them off."

From atop the handsign statue Lee said puzzledly, "But Gai-sensei, you told me to only remove them as a last resort when I am protecting someone important to me."

"Yes I sure did, but this time I'll allow it." The bushy browed Jonin said.

Lee's face brightened, "Really?...Really?!" He removed his leg warmers to reveal a set of strap on weights that he unbuckled.

"Weights?" Ino, Trunks, and Sakura mumbled in unison. They were expecting something a little... more.

"Cool!" Naruto gleamed.

"Lame." Kankuro dismissed.

Temari snorted as Lee dropped the weights off the sides of the statue, "Does that idiot really think he can keep up with Gaara's sand just by dropping a couple of pounds of weight?"

*BOOM!*

The weights caused the floor to either side of the statue to explode, resulting in stunned shrieks to resound from the audience.

"Gai, I think you're overdoing it." Kakashi sighed.

The bowl-cut jonin flashed his pearly whites and gave his student a thumbs up, "Now go!"

"Yes Gai-sensei!" Lee said before he disappeared from sight, befuddling the audience.

Gaara flinched as his sand shield burst up right in front of him, just barely catching a glimpse of Lee's green spandex. The look of surprise present on the sand-jinchuuriki's face as sand burst around him, courtesy of Lee's blurring body told the spectators that Gaara himself knew he was in trouble.

'Such speed.' Trunks thought in awe as he watched Gaara's sand splash all around, barely keeping up with Lee's unrestricted movement. He thought Lee was fast before, but now he was truly impressed. The spar the two had that week ago really proved just how much both of them were holding back.

Suddenly Gaara was blasted off his feet by a punch from Lee, earning him baffled glares from the sand siblings.

"No way," Temari breathed, "He hit Gaara!?" Kankuro and Baki were equally stunned.

"He nailed him, way to go Lee!" Sakura cheered.

Naruto cheered as well, "Way to go Bushy-Brow, you've got this match in the bag!"

Or so they thought. As the match went on, and Lee gave Gaara a thrashing with his outrageous speed coupled with his brutal taijutsu, they began to see just how much of a threat Gaara was. The Jinchuuriki used his sand as a body armor that helped better protect him from Lee's attacks, while Lee's body began to take its toll from the stress of using such strainful physical attacks.

Lee was now back on the defensive while Gaara began toying with him.

Trunks could sense the same evil force within Gaara, the same force that he felt from that day of the written test begin surface the longer the match went on. And the greater that air of evil grew, the more vicious Gaara became.

It was then that Lee activated his inner gates, a feat that astounded even Trunks at the effects it gave. It reminded him of the kaioken he'd heard about from Gohan-sensei.

The match was in Lee's hands, he brutalized Gaara with unprecedented speed and strength that left the sociopathic sand-nin lying in a crater. That should have ended the match, but Gaara managed to use his gourd to cushion his fall.

Having no energy left, and the muscles in his body having tore themselves apart, Lee was helpless as Gaara summoned his sand to crush his left arm and leg. The red haired Genin would have finished him off if not for Gai's interference.

Gaara was named the winner of the match, and Lee's future as a shinobi left grim due to his injuries; something that was heartbreaking to the remaining Konoha Genin.

'Lee…' Trunks thought as he watched the spandex clad shinobi be put on a stretcher. Lee was someone who he respected more than any other Genin in the room save for Naruto. Lee wasn't born with an ability to manipulate the elements, summon clones, shoot lasers, or fly. Everything he did and accomplished he did through his blood, sweat, and tears alone. He worked himself to the bone to develop himself into a shinobi that could compete with the likes of Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and Trunks himself, and now it was all for nigh. The saiyans fists tightened in anger, he glared up at Gaara who took his place back among his siblings. The Jinchuuriki glared right back at the saiyan, 'I'll finish these exams for you. I swear it.'

' **AKIMICHI CHOJI vs KINUTA DOSU** '

This match was a complete and total mismatch.

Even after being motivated by Asuma's promise of food, Choji was still unable to so much as harm Dosu with his human boulder technique.

After letting the Akimichi crash into a wall, Dosu placed his arm into his expanded gullet and activated his sound waves, which in turn was amplified by the water in Choji's body, and rendered him senseless.

After Dosu was declared the winner, the remaining Genin were called down to the floor.

"To all of you who have earned the right to compete in the third round of the chuunin exam *cough* although one of you is missing, congratulations." Said Hayate before stepping back as the Hokage stepped forward.

"Well now I would like to explain to you all about the main exam. As I told you before, in the main exam your battles will be seen in front of an audience. Each of you will fight to represent your countries. As such I ask you all to show all of your power with no reserve. This is why the finals shall be held in one month's time. This break will be used in preparation. In addition to informing all of the lords and the various shinobi leaders, this is the amount of time needed to prepare for the gathering of this event. This is also the preparation time for you examination students." Explained Sarutobi calmly.

'One months time isn't gonna give me my arm and leg back.' Thought Trunks sadly.

"Basically this means we're giving you time to get to know your enemy and yourself. This is the time period where you calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up until now had you fight in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent." Explained Sarutobi.

'That's for sure. Who'd have thought that creep could use sand as a weapon.' Thought Naruto glancing at Gaara out of the corner of his eye.

"The final trial however will not be like this. There are those who have shown all they can do already to their rivals. There are also those who competed and were badly injured by their opponent. To make things fair this time should be used for you all to advance and improve yourselves. Of course there is also nothing wrong with resting."

Oh, Naruto knew that. He was gonna need this month to improve so he could take on Sasuke, Neji, and especially Trunks. The saiyan was one of the people Naruto knew he'd have to work towards.

"Now I'd like to dismiss you all now but there is one more matter we must attend to. There are pieces of paper within the box Anko is holding and you are each to take one piece." Said Sarutobi calmly.

"I'll come around so you brats wait your turn and only take one!" said Anko.

Once Anko had walked the line and everyone had a piece of paper Sarutobi spoke up once more.

"Now that you've all taken a piece of paper I'd like you all to tell us the number on it. We will start from the left."

"3" Shino said.

"1" said Temari.

"10" said Gaara

"6" said Neji

"4" Kankuro said.

"5" said Naruto.

"2" Shikamaru sighed.

"8" Drawled Dosu.

"9" said Trunks.

Hayate scratched down the numbers on a clipboard as the Genin said them. He mumbled something about how Sasuke would be 'number 7' before he passed the clipboard to Sarutobi.

"Now, here are the match line-ups." Said Sarutobi much to the chagrin and excitement of the Genin who weren't thrilled about their match ups.

Temari v Shikamaru

Shino v Kankuro

Naruto v Neji

Sasuke v Dosu

Trunks v Gaara

'Oh great, I gotta fight a girl? In the first round? Story of my life.' Shikamaru complained.

Naruto grinned, 'Alright! I get Neji-teme; I'll make him pay for what he did to Hinata-chan.'

Trunks was also smirking, 'Looks like I'm taking on Gaara. I guess even God himself wants me to take him down.'

Dosu cursed, 'Damn, I have to fight Uchiha. And it would only be my luck that that bastard Orochimaru would have him marked. Oh well, so be it. I'll take out Sasuke, and then, I'm bailing on your little organization, Orochimaru.'

"Now before I dismiss you all are there any questions?" asked Sarutobi. Shikamaru spoke up.

"Since this is a tournament that mean's there is only one winner, right. Does this mean only one person can become a chuunin?" asked Shikamaru.

"No. There will be judge's including myself, the Kazekage, the Lords of various countries and other ninja leaders who will be watching. Throughout the tournament these judges will evaluate your abilities. Those who are judged to have the necessary qualities of a Chunin will be able to become one even if they lose their first match." Said Sarutobi before taking a puff from his pipe.

"Does that mean that it is possible for everyone here to advance to Chunin?" asked Temari.

"Yes. But it is also possible that no one will become a chuunin. To advance in the tournament means you have more opportunities to appeal to the judges." Explained Sarutobi.

The Genin nodded.

"If that is all then thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials. You are all dismissed until a month from now." Said Sarutobi allowing for the gathered shinobi to leave the building.

Trunks sighed as he moved to follow Kakashi, the Jonin motioning for the saiyan to follow him 'Here's to spending the next month in a hospital bed.'

"Hey Trunks!" Ino called out as she approached the swordsman.

"Hey Ino." Trunks said as he stopped to talk to the blonde, whose ponytail was much shorter as a result of her match with Sakura.

"I was just wanting to know who you were gonna fight in the tournament was all." She asked.

"Gaara." The saiyan casually said.

"What! You have to take that psycho on without your arm or you're leg?!" She said in disbelief.

Trunks chuckled lightheartedly, "It sucks, doesn't it? But like I said before, I'll make it." 'I hope.' He thought.

Ino gave him a sympathetic look, "I really hope you'll get better. I'll stop by to check on you,-if-you-want, I mean." She said with a red face.

"I don't mind, thanks Ino, I appreciate it." Trunks said as he moved to follow after Kakashi, his crutch takking along the floor as he walked.

Soon every Genin left, eager to get as much rest and training in as they could for the next month.

XXX

Meanwhile, back in the destroyed future that was once home to Trunks and Bulma Brief, a young girl traversed the ruins of a city with the company of a tall, stoic, and burly older man.

The young girl was a teenager with dark blue hair that flowed down her mid-back, a red ribbon that belonged to her mother was tied in her hair that left bangs above her dark blue eyes. The girl was of slim build and medium height, with an outfit that consisted of a black tank top, dark blue jeans, leather gloves that also belonged to her mother, and white sneakers.

The man she was with stood at a hulking 9ft tall; he wore a strange light green armor over his dark green spandex. His hair was that of a rough orange Mohawk, making him look all the more intimidating. The green armor that he wore bore the insignia of the red ribbon army on the left peck.

The girl sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow, evidence that they had walked for quite a while under the afternoon sun, "Hey 16-nee-san, about how much further of a walk do we have here?" She asked the man next to her as they continued down the path of dirt and rubble that had once been a city road.

The man known as '#16' spoke in a heavy monotone, "According to my Global Positioning System, we should be approximately 3.3 miles from the Capsule Corporations Building."

The girl huffed and said under her breath, 'Oh great.' "You know #16, I still don't get why we couldn't just fly there. I doubt the other androids are anywhere near here."

"Negative, Tavi-chan, my scanners confirm my siblings to be within a 10 mile radius of us. Airborne travel would only put you at risk."

"If you say so big guy." The girl known as Tavi sighed.

As the two passed by what appeared to be an abandoned gas-station, they stopped at the sound of multiple footsteps coming from within accompanied by the feel of unconcealed ki.

'Here comes trouble.' Tavi thought before a series of whoops and hollers could be perceived from the station. It was obviously meant to be an act of intimidation before a group of ragged men quickly meandered from the gas station bearing weapons. "Raiders." Tavi mumbled disdainfully as she scanned over their aggressors. They were a group of 9 men, who looked as if they haven't showered in lord knows how long, wearing rags for clothes and bearing a variety of weapons from machetes, to spiked bats, to even rifles; although only three men had rifles.

"Don't you two fuckin' move!" The man who appeared to be the leader said with a nasty smirk as his group formed a wide circle around Tavi and #16, ensuring that the two "helpless" travelers couldn't escape. The leader moved his greasy locks from out of his face as he aimed his sawed off shotgun at his prey, "The both of you are gonna drop everything you've got, the big man's gonna keep walking, and the girls stayin' with us. Got a problem with it; we'll kill you both right now and you can be dinner tonight." Like a pack of Hyenas the men whooped in maniacal laughter.

#16 turned to his young ward, "Tavi-chan, there are nine hostiles of low-to-medium danger. Do you wish for me to neutralize them?"

Tavi cracked her knuckles, "Well yeah, duh, but I let you take the first three encounters on your own. Can you save me some this time?" She asked her Android protector.

With a small smile #16 nodded, "Affirmative." What #16 did next came as such a big shock to the raiders that they didn't even think of attacking.

He pulled off his right hand, which was actually a machine-gun of sorts, and shredded the leader apart with a flurry of bullets. One of the bandits that had a rifle shot the android, but the bullet bounced off the machine's head as if it were just a pebble. #16 made sure to gun down two of the raiders to the right before the men scattered for safety.

"You took out three, leave the rest for me." Tavi told the Android who nodded. She sensed four hiding within the remains of a ruined building across the street. Two ran back inside the gas station. She casually made her way inside the building after giving #16 the go ahead to handle the two in the station.

"Man, what the hell was that guy?" An out of breath raider asked his equally exhausted friends. The building they were in was the former shell of an office building.

"I don't have a clue," a bandit said. "but I'll tell you guys what, that girl and her friend are gonna die today."

"Yeah if they think for a second that their leaving here alive then they got another thing coming." A bandit wielding a spiked bat declared.

"Is that so?" Four pairs of eyeballs shot to the young teenager standing confidently at the doorway. "You idiots really should've picked your targets better, or if it'll make you feel better you can blame it on bad luck." Her face shifted to a more serious expression, "Either way, I'm personally taking you guys out so you can't harm anyone else." She got into a fighting stance.

The four men looked to one another and laughed out loud.

"You're in over your head girly. What makes you think you can take on four badasses?" A raider with a machete drawled.

Tavi shrugged, "I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a bigger badass than all four of you."

The raider with a spiked bat snarled hot-headedly, "You sure got a mouth on you," he charged at the blue haired teenager, "I think I'll be the one to shut you up permanently!" He swung his bat down on the girl who brought her arm up in a blur, shattering the wood and nails that scattered apart. "What the-" he was silenced by a roundhouse kick to his head that snapped his neck and sent his corpse into a wall.

"Koichi!" The men shouted in surprise.

A bandit cocked his rifle, "That's it you little bitch," he took aim, "say goodnight." When he shot the gun the girl snatched the bullet out of the air. "Impossible!" He cried before the teenager flicked the bullet back at him at over 5x the force and velocity. The result was that of a basketball sized hole being left in the bandit's chest that was also present through his friend behind him.

Two birds, one stone. Their bodies dropped.

The final bandit, out of fear, dropped his rifle and backed away slowly. He looked as if he would soil his pants when Tavi focused in on him. "N-Now, w-wait just a minute, y-you don't have to kill me, I-I wasn't like the rest of those guys, I-I swear!"

"There's not a doubt in my mind that you helped them kill who knows how many people. I'm sorry, but if I let you go, you'd most likely just harm someone else." Tavi leveled her hand at the bandit and an orb of energy appeared in her palm.

"No no wait-!" The pleading marauder was disintegrated by the ki blast that shot from Tavi's Palm.

Lowering her hand, Tavi sighed. She never liked having to kill, but what could she have done? Let the scum live so they could kill, rape, and harm other innocent people? One would think that mankind would grow closer in the apocalypse, and learn to value one another's life instead of looking at how others could benefit their own, but no. Survival of the fittest was apparently just a mindset wired into the average person's system. And those groups of people that were still trying to function as a society, weren't allowed to live for much longer with the Androids attacking any rebuilt city they could find.

Depressed, the teen left the building to see the gas station up in flames, and #16 waiting calmly outside for her.

"Uh, #16-nee-San," she said awkwardly staring at the inferno, "You don't think you overdid it a little?" She asked.

The hulking android gave her a small smile, "You have miscalculated your assumptions Tavi-chan. When the hostiles fired their ballistic weapons, they missed me their specific target and ruptured a gas canister."

"Oh, well that's nice." She said sarcastically. "Anyways, all the scumbags are dead so I think we can keep moving before anyone else shows up."

"Affirmative." #16 agreed.

The two continued their trek, "You know big guy, you should really learn how to talk normal. I can't stress enough how weird it'll be for someone to hear you talk like a walking computer." 'Even though you kind of are.' Tavi told the android.

"Define normal in your terms." #16 asked.

"You know, talk like I do. And how you've heard other people talk. You can't say 'affirmative' and 'negative' for your responses all the time. Try saying 'yes' and 'no' for starters."

"Negative, my systems are set for a default vocabulary. I cannot alter my own programming." #16 said.

"Well that's just lovely," Tavi sarcastically said, "I'll just ask Bulma to take care of that after we get the bomb taken out of you."

Soon the two happened upon the Capsule corp. building. Tavi was hit with a wave of nostalgia that made her gleeful. She hadn't seen the building since she was 8, and she hadn't gotten to see Trunks or Bulma since she was 10. A swarm of butterflies tickled her gullet at the thought of getting to meet her old friend. The 14 year old eagerly picked up the pace in her walk, leaving the towering android behind her.

"Hey #16, stay outside so I can explain. I don't need them freaking out when they see you're old insignia." She called out before entering the building.

Tears came to her eyes as she saw the state of the building. It was just as old and worn out as she remembered it. Which meant they had to be okay. "Ms. Briefs, Trunks, it's me, Tavi." She called out as she walked through the empty receptionist lobby. Receiving no answer she continued through even to the housing quarters. "Bulma? Trunks?" Her heart began racing. Maybe they just went out? She went into Bulma's room; the inventor would've taken her hovercar capsule if they left. Scavenging through all of Bulma's drawers, her closet, her coat pockets, and all of her toolboxes, Tavi managed to find the capsule in a drawer in the armoire. Her heart raced faster. What if… Just what if the androids…

"No… Oh god this can't be …" Her eyes watered and she clutched her chest. She fell to her knees, and sobbed. Her childhood friend, and someone she looked to as a godmother were dead? She brought her knees up to her forehead and let out all of her grief.

"Tavi-chan." She heard #16 call from outside. Thinking he may have found something that would lead to the Briefs, she hurried out of the building.

She saw her guardian standing amongst a small crater just right outside the building. There were bits and pieces of scrap metal laying scattered across the dirt yard. She saw just what exactly he called her out for.

In the center of the crater, a small orb of light hung suspended in the air. It was puny, about the size of a marble, one could say it was insignificant due to its size but it was still unnatural.

"Wh-what is that?" The teen asked as she stood beside her caretaker. Her eyes stayed glued on the orb that was low enough for her to touch.

#16's eyes turned to an infrared scanner of sorts as he observed the phenomena, "My scanners cannot get a proper reading, but I am gathering that it radiates some sort of energy."

Tavi was really fascinated by the strange orb. In a fit of young curiosity, she found herself reaching up to touch it. When the tips of her index and middle fingers grazed it, she received a sharp shock that made her yelp and jerk back.

The orb then changed colors; from a light yellow to a whiteish blue hue.

Faster than the two could react the orb expanded and engulfed them.

Tavi screamed, "#16!" Her body grew hotter with each second her body stayed within the orb. Her muscles locked, restricting her from any movement or attempt at escape.

The androids vision turner static, very similar to a TV with piss-poor signal, but still, he knew where she was. He wrapped his arms around her in an effort to protect her as much he possibly could.

"Just hold on Tavi, everything will be alright I give you my word!" #16's voice came off as something of an echo through the roaring of the sphere that completely swallowed them both, and vanished.

XXX

A/N: And here we end this chapter. I know the fights were canon but it was mostly to advance the plot. So, who exactly is Tavi? And what role will she play in this story? You can only find out next update ladies and gentlemen.

(I do want to inform you guys that I will be going on a small hiatus until about January. This gives me time to pretend that I will do schoolwork while I really just play Fallout 4 for the next month.

I'm just kidding, well, maybe a little, but this break gives me time to get my school life together, especially since I'm taking the SAT's this December. So, I will return to this fic on January 5.

I'll see you guys next time.)


	19. Quagmire

A/N: Hiatus over, time to get back in business! Let's hope my skills haven't dwindled too much since I've been gone.

And before I start this chapter, I just want you to know that any and all characters that are added to this story are added FOR A REASON. Tavi is the only OC that was made and her role won't be major, but just be aware that she has purpose for being introduced.

Enjoy.

XXX

"11...infiltrated…5…enemy...23...encampment...4...going…" Bulma's blue eyes skimmed back and forth between an encrypted messenger scroll and the book used to decipher the code written by the sender, "13...undercover...9…to...7...find...18...documents." A gleaming smile stretched across her features, "Hey Mitoku, I cracked another one!" She held up the translated message to the Captain of the analyst team who sat across from her in the busy room.

Mitoku was a spectacled man with dark brown eyes and black hair held in a high, short ponytail. His facial features showed that he was aged into his late 40's or early 50's, with a thin goatee lining the edges of his mouth and chin. His outfit was of a brown shirt and white lab coat.

The leader of the cryptanalysis team stood up from his paper cluttered desk to inspect Bulma's work. Taking the sheet from the genius his eyes skimmed the page; his expression showing that of satisfaction, "I must say I am impressed Bulma. Less than a week on the force and you're already a maven at this."

"Well, I don't mean to brag but I've been solving harder stuff than this since I was twelve." The inventor said pridefully as she leaned back in her chair, "If I get a little extra free time on my hands, I can put together something that'll make it so we don't have to translate manually."

Mitoku rubbed his chin, "Hm, speaking of free time, I was wondering if you'd like to get together for lunch or dinner sometime, my treat" The man said hopefully.

Bulma gave him a warm smile, "I might just take you up on that." She winked.

Yurika and several other researchers could be heard snorting from around the room.

"Heh, look at the captain trying to get some." One of the analysts said jokingly to his colleague.

"I'm not surprised, a ton of guys in this village have been trying to get with Bulma, that woman's a dime."

"Isn't she in her late forties?" The analyst scoffed. "I mean she looks good I'll admit, but she ain't no Tsunade or anything."

"She ages like a jewel," Yurika said, "Tsunade wishes she looked naturally as good as Bulma at that age, and Bulma herself isn't that much younger than the sannin."

The analyst had to admit, that was very impressive.

The blue-haired inventor continued to work, loving the change of pace that she had from living in her own world. She could finally sit back and do real work again, instead of patching up survivors and her son all the time. Any time she had for inventing went towards that bust that was supposed to be a time machine. The only positive outcome of that failure was her and her son having the opportunity of a fresh start, at the sacrifice of saving the survivors back home. If this wasn't a bittersweet ending, she didn't know what was.

The door to the office opened to a shinobi, prompting all of the research teams to provide their undivided attention to the possible messenger of the Hokage, "Bulma Briefs, you have been instructed to come with me."

"Please don't tell me it's about my son." Bulma grimaced.

"Just, come with me." The shinobi pleaded. Technically he didn't have to ask, but he knew it was the civil way to handle it.

Bulma grunted, "Fine." Before turning in her work and bidding farewell to her team for the day. Walking through the streets Bulma was greeted left and right by citizens of Konoha, showing her quick rise in popularity among the populous. The woman never did have trouble making friends. If there was anyone still bitter about her "little entrance" into the village those months back, they didn't show it. She was treated as if she was family by almost everyone she got to know. According to Trunks though, he wasn't exactly treated with the same kindness. Despite her disapproval of the shinobi lifestyle, she was thankful that it now got her son the respect she felt he deserved.

Once she saw that she was being led to the Konoha hospital, she deadpanned. "Why am I not surprised.' she thought sarcastically.

XXX

"*munch munch munch* I hate hospital food." Trunks said with a mouthful of rice that he eagerly gulped down.

'Yeah well you sure know how to put it away.' Ino thought with a blank expression. She decided to do the honors and help the saiyan eat by holding his food bowls, since, that was pretty hard to do when you only had one hand. After he finished his bowl of rice the blonde stacked it on top of the hospital food cart that held 10 other messy bowls and plates. "Why do you eat so much anyways?" She asked as she brought him a plate with grilled fish and steamed veggies.

"Trust me Ino, you haven't seen anything yet." Sakura said from her seat in Trunks' room. Her and Naruto decided to visit their teammate without the company of Sasuke, who was on bed rest himself.

"What are you two talking about? I don't see anything wrong with how Trunks eats." Naruto said casually, the Jinchuuriki having taken a seat next to his pink-haired teammate, arms folded behind his head.

"Of course you don't see anything wrong, because you're used to eating 10x what the average human being does." Sakura said in a matter of fact manner. Trunks let out a loud belch, earning him an 'ew' from Ino and a disgusted glare from Sakura. Naruto cackled 'Good one', at his friends manly gesture.

"Heh, thanks." The half-saiyan said modestly before frowning. "I still hate hospital food." He rubbed his gullet holding the unappetizing food that would sit for the next 8 hours.

Ino inwardly laughed, 'Boys.' "Huh?"

It was then that the hospital door opened to a middle-aged woman with long light blue hair tied in a ponytail, her attire being that of a dark blue long sleeved shirt, black pants and blue sneakers.

'Who's she?' Sakura and Ino wondered.

"Hey Mom!/ Hey Bulma-san!" Trunks and Naruto said. That's when it clicked for the two girls, and it was so obvious, there was simply too much resemblance shared between the two for the girls to have missed.

Ino eyed the woman 'So that's Trunks-kun's mom.'

Bulma gave the two boys a bright smile, "Hey sweetie, hey Naruto and," she looked back and forth between the platinum blonde and the pinkette, "friends of Naruto and my son."

That was their cue to introduce themselves. Sakura got out of her seat and bowed "Sakura Haruno"

"Ino Yamanaka." Ino bowed.

Bulma chuckled, "The kids in this village have such good manners, my husband _and_ my ex-boyfriend could've learned a lot from you guys." She said jokingly even though she was just a little bit serious. She couldn't help that she was into bad boys and jerks when she was younger.

Trunks gulped as Bulma eyed his arm and leg, "I guess I've got some explaining to do?" The saiyan said nervously.

"A little." The genius said pointedly. She turned to the three other teens "Can you give us a moment?" She asked.

"Yeah of course!" Ino said as she and Sakura each took Naruto by an arm, and dragged the blushing Jinchuuriki out. Once the door shut, Bulma approached her son.

The saiyan scratched his face bashfully, "I guess you're pretty mad, huh."

"No no, I'm more annoyed than anything else." The blue haired woman said as she took a seat in a chair next to her son's bed. "I mean, you leave me for a week to play child soldier and then I see you for the first time, and you can only use 50% of your body."

"But on the bright side, they can treat it." Trunks said.

"What if they couldn't?" Bulma asked.

"But they can." Trunks retorted.

"That's not the point!" Bulma snapped.

"What is the point?" The saiyan flinched.

Bulma took a breath, "The point is, is that if the guy who did that to you managed cripple you for life, or worse, kill you, I don't know what I'd do; I'd have no one. Call me selfish, but you're all I got kid. I don't like you always having your life put on the line; I had to put up with enough of that back home."

"I'm sorry mom, but what else do you want me to do?" Trunks asked.

"Want me to be honest? I'd like you to stop being a shinobi, but, it's not like I can stop you. You're gonna do whatever you want, kids your age always do." Bulma said.

"I know you don't like it mom, but so far _I_ love it. Somehow I just feel like I was born to face these sort of challenges." He admitted.

"That's your father talking." Bulma sighed before smiling, "And a little bit of me too I guess. What else happened?"

Trunks thought back, he fought a slew of guys in the Forest of Death, and Orochimaru was a pretty big challenge. Should the Saiyan mention the Snake Bastard; and how the pale man attempted to bite him? No. Trunks could think of about five different (bad) ways that could play out.

"Nothing." He said plainly.

"Glad to hear that." Bulma said with a cheeky smile.

XXX

In the forests several miles east of the village, a small blue orb warped into existence, it grew larger, the energy it gave off and it's unnatural presence being enough to drive all wildlife out of the vicinity. As the sphere grew larger it sparked electricity of a dangerously high voltage that shot out and charred the bark of several nearby trees and the soil of some patches of ground. The orb grew to its maximum before flickering out of existence, leaving a man and a young girl in the smoking crater of its aftermath.

The man, after taking a moment to make sure the surroundings were safe, stood up and released the girl he was shielding from what before was a painful journey.

"Tavi-chan, are you okay?" #16 asked the teenager.

"Yeah." She said as she struggled to stand. The companion lent her a hand to get her to her feet. Tavi's muscles still felt brittle and stiff from the jolts of electricity that coursed through her body. She took a look around, "Where are we?"

"I believe a forest." #16 said.

She deadpanned, "I mean where are we _exactly_." _Smartass._

The Androids vision turned infrared. He tried to access the database that would allow him to view a map of the world, and pinpoint their exact location. But, when he pulled up the map, their location was non-existent.

"This is peculiar, my systems cannot pinpoint our location."

"What?!" The girl exclaimed, "You don't think something in your system's got fried in… whatever that was, do you?" she asked as she glanced in the still smoking crater.

"That is a possibility, but I am positive my systems would detect a malfunction."

Now Tavi was just a little bit nervous. What if it wasn't an issue with #16, and that... _thing_ , just brought them somewhere they weren't supposed to be?

"We should look for civilization. It would be wise to learn our surroundings." The android said as he switched his vision back to normal.

"Yeah, you're right." Tavi sighed. Her entire day so far had been one big headache. She felt her left pocket to make sure the pouch that held her senzu beans was in one piece. At feeling the lump indicating the pouch was indeed in her pocket, she pulled out the little brown sack and peered inside to see 3 little green beans. She smiled in relief before tying the string back up to her sack, and pocketing it. "Sooo, where we goin?"

"My sensors indicate the nearest group of life forms to be 44 miles West." The android said.

"Perfect, let's go." The teen said, "And we're _flying_ this time." Her tone left no room for argument.

"Understood." #16 said as the two shot off the ground and into the blue afternoon sky.

Flying was something the girl loved doing, the freedom she felt at being above the world, and the cool wind rushing against her face and skin was a whole new level of soothing, and the sight of a sea of clouds scattered over the horizon was almost heavenly. She only had Gohan to thank for teaching her. It had been some years since she last seen him, she wondered how Trunks's master was.

Tavi looked ahead of #16 to see a massive walled off settlement coming into view. It was easily the size of a city, maybe larger. Even from what little detail she could get from it, it was still unlike anything she'd ever seen before. 'We are _definitely_ not home.' She thought dreadfully. She knew her companion noticed the settlement "Hey #16, we don't need to spook any of the natives, we can go in on foot." She called out.

"Agreed." The stoic Android said before they landed a half mile down a road leading to the village gates.

A sense of anxiety filled Tavi's stomach, and with good reason. There was no telling what she would find on the other side of this settlements gates; would the citizens be friendly? Or would they be hostile and try attacking them? The latter in which case, she'd have #16 blow the place to high hell.

As they neared the villages massive main entrance gates, the two were stopped by a voice, "Hold! You're entering Konoha, state your business immediately!"

When the two looked up they saw three men standing above the arch that connected the doors. Their features were shadowed from the rays of the sun beaming behind them.

The delay in receiving an answer prompted the trio of shinobi to draw kunai. They weren't afraid of attacking a kid, it wasn't uncommon for an enemy village to send in shinobi at a young age. The fact that her companion was practically a giant didn't help matters either.

Having knives aimed at them made Tavi raise a Ki infused hand up at the Konoha shinobi, a blue ball held right in the center of her palm, "Do not attack us, please." She asked, "We're not looking to harm anyone, we just need to talk to somebody. Do you have a leader?"

Evidently, the men didn't pay attention to a word the girl said. What they did pay attention to, was the shining blue ball she held in her hand.

"Th-That energy…" One of them mumbled in awe.

"It looks pretty damn familiar doesn't it?" Kotetsu said to Izumo, thinking back on another teen who possessed a similar form of energy; a teen with lavender hair and a sword.

"Hey!" Izumo called down, grabbing Tavi and #16's attention, "That energy you're using, is that Ki?"

Tavi blinked; that threw the teen off, "Y-yeah… why do you ask?" She raised a curious eyebrow.

The three Chunin exchanged glances, before Izumo nodded to Kotetsu to let them in.

"Tavi-chan," #16 started, "these three humans are not normal, they possess a level of power exponentially higher than that of any civilian. Judging from my sensors, this community houses dozens just like them who are even stronger."

"Wha..?" She breathed in disbelief. She hadn't seen anything from these men to suggest they were of any relevance power wise, but then again, she couldn't sense anything from them. Could they be adept at concealing their energy like she could? That would certainly explain why #16 could sense them and she couldn't.

Izumo jumped down to their level, and nodded for the two newcomers to follow him.

"Wait, where are you taking us?" The teen asked the chunin.

"Just follow me." Izumo said.

"No, we're not going _any_ where until you tell us where we're going first." Tavi said stubbornly.

Izumo sighed, "I'm taking you to the Hokage, he calls the shots around here."

That left the young survivor satisfied, 'Good to know.'

Upon entering the village the teen was given a breath of fresh air at it's structure. The buildings were not the ruins and rubble piles that she was used to seeing. Instead they were of a more oriental architecture, nothing close to what used to be the sprawling metropolises that she knew of. How did the Androids manage to miss this place? Even though this village didn't stand out too much, surely it could've been a target during the androids 20 year reign of chaos.

Tavi looked around at the populous who were going about their daily routine, either shopping, or taking care of errands. Some passer-bys gawked at #16, awestruck at the size and intimidating stature he possessed. Tavi noticed he didn't pay them any mind, possibly not noticing the strange looks he was receiving.

"What is this place?" The girl asked Izumo.

'They're definitely not from around here, just like the other pair.' Izumo thought, "You're in Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves." He said as he brought the two to the Hokage tower, and led them inside. As he led the two up the stairs he figured he should make a point, "Lord Hokage is the cornerstone of this entire village, so don't do, or even _say_ anything that could be perceived as a threat to him in any way. You slip up, Anbu will turn you both into pin cushions before you have time to say 'Oh shit.'"

"Got it." Tavi said casually. She wasn't scared.

Izumo turned to #16 as he noticed the hulking man hadn't said a word since he was led inside the village. "He doesn't talk much, does he?" He asked the young girl just as they reached the closed doors to the Hokage office.

"He only really talks when spoken to. Or when he feels like it. Or when I tell him to." The teen shrugged.

Izumo had nothing to add to that, so he knocked on the fire shadows doors.

"Come in." The trio heard come from inside.

As the door opened, Tavi and #16 were greeted to an elderly man at a desk, having been interrupted from his work.

Hiruzen, taking passing glances at #16 and Tavi, turned to Izumo "I hope you aren't here to bother me with some trivial matter, Izumo-kun."

Izumo vigorously shook his head, "No Lord Hokage, believe me, you _really_ wanna see this." He closed the doors behind him so hopefully Anbu couldn't interfere. "Show him what you showed me earlier." He told Tavi.

Not seeing what the big deal was, the teen held out her hand and let a blue sphere form in her palm.

Hiruzen's mouth dropped, his eyes glued to the ball of ki, 'I...Impossible...there's _another_ one?!'

Tavi let the ki sphere dissipate, "I'm still confused, what's so important about my power?" she asked.

Before Sarutobi answered that question, he needed to know something else, "First, let me ask you, what are your names?"

Tavi brushed one of her purple bangs out from her eyes and tucked them behind her red ribbon, "My name, is Tavi Shinhan." She held a hand out to her companion, "And that's my nii-San, his name's...Jinzo (A/N: Short for Jinzoningen, which is Japanese for Android. I figured you guys should know that.)"

'Interesting.' The Hokage thought. Now, there was one more very important question he had to ask, "Would you happen to know a boy by the name of Trunks Briefs, and a woman by the name of Bulma Briefs?"

At a speed that was too fast for even Hiruzen to track, and leaving Izumo baffled, Tavi was at his desk and practically in his face. "Where are they?! You have to tell me, please!" She exclaimed.

Hiruzen, dropping all assignments he may have had, got up from his seat to lead the two to the Konoha hospital.

XXX

"Knock knock." Kakashi said as he opened the door to Trunks' room.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Trunks, Naruto, and Sakura exclaimed. The copy-ninja was greeted to the sight of Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Trunks, _and_ Trunks mom all in the same room.

At getting a good look at the silver haired Jonin, Bulma blushed, 'He's kinda cute.'

Trunks grimaced when he saw the look on his mother's face 'Oh God.' he shuddered. He was just praying she would control herself knowing there were other kids around. 'How could she even think that when his mask covers 90% of his face?'

"Whatcha doin' here sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I was just passing through and I figured I'd stop by and check up on my favorite cripple." the Scarecrow said with an eye smile.

"Oh...thanks sensei." Trunks said through a gritted smile. 'When I get better, I'm soooo calling you out in a spar... as a super saiyan.' Trunks inwardly smirked.

"How's Sasuke?" Sakura asked. In all honesty, the fact that she asked that came of no surprise to anyone.

"Just fine Sakura." Kakashi said, "He should be awake later tonight if not early tomorrow, but don't expect to see him, because I'm training him for the exams first thing."

Sakura didn't like that, but she didn't have a choice but to accept it.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, what about my training?" Naruto asked.

"Actually Naruto, I'm assigning you a Jonin that can teach you what you need to know even better than I can." Kakashi said.

"Even better than you?" The blonde didn't believe that for a second, but hey, what was the worst he could get?

"So," Bulma cut in, speaking directly to Kakashi "how long you been teaching my son?"

"Mom, can we please not start this." Trunks begged as he buried his face in his sheets.

What was visible of Kakashi's face was red with blush, "Actually I've been-"

"Bulma Briefs can you please step into the hallway." A voice called, interrupting Kakashi.

"Ugh! You jerks never give me a break!" Bulma snapped as she stormed into the halls.

"...I like your mom." Ino said, making Sakura sweatdrop.

'Of course you do.' The pinkette said.

When Bulma stepped into the hallway, she'd swear to god her eyes deceived her. Standing next to the Hokage was a familiar face she'd never thought she'd get to see again.

"T..Tavi?" She uttered in disbelief.

"B...Bulma?" the teen gasped in just as much shock. After what seemed like an eternity of the two not moving, Tavi ran into Bulma's arms, the two sharing a tight hug. So many questions came flooding from the two women, neither really getting the chance to answer the other.

"Oh my God sweetheart what happened? How did you get here?" Bulma asked the girl who was practically her god-daughter.

"I don't have a clue, things just sort of happened." The dark blue haired teen said awkwardly.

"Goodness, it's so great to see you, regardless of what happened. How's your mom, Launch?" Bulma asked.

"Completely out of her mind." Tavi said bluntly, "she's all blonde haired and crazy, and now as far as I know she's pretty much drank herself into a wreck."

"Yeah," Bulma sighed, her voice tainted with a hint of sorrow, "She's never been a stable person, but Tien dying really pushed her over the edge." she gave the teen a lighthearted smile, "You know, you're beginning to look just like her. You have her nicer sides face, and her hair, and with that ribbon you're a spitting image." she pushed back Tavis bangs to see her forehead, "I'm still surprised you didn't get Tiens 3rd eye." Bulma joked.

"I'm glad I didn't." the teen shivered at the thought of being a triclops like her father.

It was then Bulma looked past her God-daughter to see the mountain of a man standing behind the Hokage; conveniently, Hiruzen stood at a position that blocked the view of #16's insignia on his chest.

"Who's that?" the scientist asked.

"Oh, um, he's my friend. He's been traveling with me for a while now."

"Really?" The scientist said as she focused in on the android, she gave a friendly smile before moving in to greeting it, "Hi my name's Bulma, I don't think we've me-"

"Actually Bulma," The teen said hurriedly before the genius could get too close to #16, "Can you take me to Trunks? I mean, is he okay?"

"Oh yeah, it has been a pretty long time since you've seen him." Bulma realized. She nodded for the teen to follow her, making Tavi sigh in relief.

XXX

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, I didn't kill Kabuto did I?" Trunks asked the silver haired Jonin who sat down in a chair to read his Icha book.

That was something Naruto, Sakura, and Ino wondered. The saiyan practically destroyed the poor guy in their fight; but to be fair, Kabuto did cripple the saiyans arm and leg.

"Nah, he's fine. He'll just be spending the next few weeks in a full body cast." The Jonin said as he turned a page.

"Heh, well that's nice...I guess." The saiyan said.

"Trunks-kun, did you figure out what you were gonna do about your fight with Gaara?" Ino asked her crush.

"I have, and to be honest… I don't know what I'm gonna do." Trunks admitted, "Like I said, I'll just have to try my best with the tools I'm given."

"But if you fight Gaara with that kind of handicap he'll kill you." Sakura said, having images of Trunks meeting a brutal end to the sand nin while the tournament audience watched.

"You guys worry way too much," Naruto said, "Trunks could take that browless freak down even if he had _no_ hands."

Kakashi eye smiled. The Uzumaki may have been just a _bit_ unrealistic, but you had to love his optimism.

The door to the room opened, "Hey Trunks, you have a special visitor." Bulma said as she stepped to the side, revealing to Trunks his friend since childhood.

"No way…" He breathed before a bright smile slipped across his face.

"Trunks!" Tavi leaped into the saiyan, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug that the saiyan could only return with one arm around her waist.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto glanced back and forth between the blue haired girl, and the 8 foot tall mohawked tank with legs. 'Who're they?' They thought.

'WHO THE HELL IS SHE?!' Ino screeched in fury at the new girl who was practically smothering her should be boyfriend.

The saiyan was at a loss for words, "Tavi, how're you-? When did you-? What're you doing here?"

"I already went through this with Bulma, and I don't know, and I don't care right now." She said, "What I wanna know is what you're doing in the hospital." She said as she got a good look at Trunks condition.

"Long story, but I got into a fight and my arm and leg got paralyzed." He said bashfully.

Tavi grinned, "Aww, you got beat up?" she teased.

"Actually, Trunks beat the living piss out of the guy who did it." Ino cut in, not willing to let anyone downplay her crush's accomplishments, not caring who they were.

"And you're still as badass as ever." She said while pinching his cheek, making the saiyan blush.

The look on Ino's face spelled bloody murder, something Kakashi noticed, 'I can already tell this is gonna be an issue.' He sighed.

"But hey, I think I have something that'll make your day." Tavi said as she reached into her pocket.

"Oh, don't tell me," Trunks said brightly, hoping to Kami what he thought it was. "You brought-"

"Senzu beans!" Tavi finished as she held out the small brown pouch.

"You're the greatest!" The saiyan exclaimed. Those beans may as well have been manna from a god.

"Tell me something I don't know." The daughter of Tien said with a cheeky grin. "Open wide." She said as she pulled out a bean and popped it into the Briefs boys mouth.

All feeling came rushing back into Trunks' arm and leg, prompting him to smirk and tear the casting off from his limbs, and hop out of bed; making the bystanders gasp.

"Trunks, h-how did you-," Kakashi stuttered, awed at what he witnessed. He turned to Tavi, "What did you give him?"

"It was a senzu bean," She explained, "They're a special drug that can heal almost any type of injury, restore a person's energy, and keep them full for 10 days."

"That sounds awesome!" Naruto said while Sakura nodded her agreement. Ino was just glad to see that he was gonna be just fine.

"Yup," Trunks said as he flexed his stiff arm and leg, "it's a good thing you came when you did, otherwise I probably would've got wasted in the tournament."

"Tournament? What tournament?" She asked.

"We're gonna have to talk about that, haha." Trunks said.

"Wait, hold on." Kakashi interrupted, "This is all so abrupt, or maybe I missed something, but who are you?"

"Me? My name's Tavi Shinhan, I'm a friend of Trunks." Tavi said with a slight bow.

" _Yeah I bet._ " Ino mumbled, prompting Sakura to deadpan, "Oh get over yourself."

"Mhm," The Jonin turned to #16, who was standing by the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, "And who's he?"

Knowing he was being referenced, the automaton said, "Hello, I am Android #16." ,as he unfolded his arms, making Trunks, Bulma's, and Tavi's hearts stop cold; and for different reasons.

"Tavi...what...the hell...is that thing." Trunks said with a twitch in his eye, even though he knew the obvious answer. And it was enough to send his world crashing down.

Bulma couldn't take her eyes off of the red ribbon insignia that donned the Androids left peck. "This can't be, this can't be happening…" She whimpered in post-traumatic fear.

Tavi nearly pulled her hair out, 'Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!' The teen screamed in her head. She wanted to give them the hint another way, not let the cat out of the bag this early. She turned to see Trunk's eyes flashing from blue to teal, and his fists ball up as an aura flashed to life around him,

"Trunks NO!" She cried as the saiyan charged at the Android.

XXX

A/N: Man it feels good to be back, I needed that break. Now, we all discovered Tavi's secret; that she's the daughter of Tien and Launch, and she's practically a little Launch look alike. The decision to add this OC wasn't taken lightly, and her role won't be enough to drastically alter the flow of the story or change the events of the Naruto series completely, I promise you that.

Anyways, that's all until next time dudes and dudettes, see you on the flip side!


	20. Revelations

A/N: I'm gonna jam this chapter full of content so that we can get into the tournament next update. Enjoy.

XXX

"RAAAAAHHH!" The son of Vegeta cried out at he ascended to his super Saiyan form. The force of the transformation blew out the window to his hospital room, sending glass raining down the three story building. Unknown to him he was being begged by the spectators to calm down.

The Super Saiyan came at #16 like a freight train out of hell, fist pulled back in a rage fueled punch that he landed in the Androids cheek, the force disintegrating the tile of the floor and searing the paint from the walls.

Teal eyes widened in horror when Trunks saw that his punch did nothing at all to the android, almost as if the machine didn't notice or acknowledge the blow. Gritting his teeth, he followed up with a flurry of mountain shattering punches to the Android's head that didn't even faze the machine, much less make him move.

"Trunks stop it, now!" Tavi yelled at her friend. As of now, #16 wasn't even looking at Trunks as a threat, but if he got annoyed, there was no telling how badly the Android would mess Trunks up.

' _I'll kill it, I'll kill it, I'll kill it_!' The saiyan chanted almost obsessively in his head; all rational thought leaving his mind as he put all his focus, all his _rage_ into trying to pummel Dr. Gero's creation into a pile of scraps. The fact that he wasn't doing anything except tear up the hospital hallways didn't register to him.

"Trunks!" Naruto and Kakashi called out, but to no avail. The silver haired jounin shot a glance to Naruto who seemed to pick up exactly what the older man was thinking. The Jinchuuriki formed three shadow clones and moved in to restrain the super saiyan, grabbing Trunks by his arms and wrapping an arm around his neck; attempting to put the saiyan in a chokehold.

"Trunks, what do you think you're doing? Knock it off!" Naruto ordered, he and his clones struggling to restrain his friend. His response was received through Trunks flaring his Ki, flinging the Jinchuriki and his bunshins away.

What Trunks did next came as a sign to the spectators that he'd completely lost his mind. His hand was leveled at the Android, Ki blast in the center of his palm… _inside the hospital_.

"TRUNKS STOP!" Everyone screamed.

#16 didn't have an issue with the saiyan attacking him, but the fact that Trunks would resort to an explosive attack such as a Ki blast, in a building _filled_ with sick and injured people was where he utterly drew the line.

Before the saiyan even knew what hit him, he was punched through the wall to his medical room, knocking him to the outside and sending him plummeting the three stories to the ground below. His free-fall was made much more unpleasant by the Androids balled hands slamming down into his chest, forcing the demi-saiyan into a wide crater in the grassy lawn out front of the hospital.

Trunks lay there, body aching and bordering on broken. He felt a foot press down on his chest, keeping him flat on his back. Looking up he saw the emotionless mug of Android #16 staring down at him.

What the Machine did next made Trunks heart race.

#16 placed both of his hands under his underarms, and _remove_ them from his forearms, revealing two cannons that the Android held over Trunks. The yellow sphere's of Ki that built in the guns made Trunks break out in a justifiable sweat.

'So this is how it ends huh?' Trunks thought. 'Taken out by one of Dr. Gero's monstrosities. I'm sorry Gohan; I wanted to avenge you, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.'

"#16 leave him, you're done!"

The Android turned to the sound of his ward, and saw that she, Kakashi, Naruto, and the rest came rushing out of the hospital doors.

Passing a final glance to the saiyan, the Android lifted his foot from Trunks and reattached his hands.

"Trunks!" Naruto called out as he, Sakura, and Ino approached the son of Vegeta. "You alright?" He asked, giving the swordsman his hand and lifting him to his feet.

"Yeah, I think so." Trunks said as he rubbed his chest.

"Good." Naruto said before decking the saiyan in the jaw.

"Naruto!" Sakura and Ino said in disbelief. They knew that it was justified, the two girls just didn't expect Naruto to just lay Trunks out without warning.

"What the hell's the matter with you!?" Naruto yelled, "You're just gonna pick a fight in a _hospital_ for _no good reason_?" He scolded the saiyan who sat rubbing his now sore jaw.

"He's right Trunks." Kakashi said, voice sharp and devoid of it's usual laid back tone. "How could you possibly think that was a good idea? Do you have any idea how many people you could have hurt, or even _killed?_ What were you thinking?"

"What happened Trunks?" Ino asked. She knew there had to be something wrong, that was completely and totally out of character for the swordsman.

"I'm sorry okay!" The son of Vegeta shouted, lashing out at the bombardment of questions and criticism. "I know what I did was stupid, and I'm really sorry but," His fingers dug into the grass, getting him handfuls of turf. No one missed the tears dripping from his anger filled eyes, "You guys have _no idea what that thing is!"_

"What do you mean Trunks, he looks pretty normal to me." Sakura said as she eyed 's creation.

"That's not a _he_ , it's an _it_ , Sakura. And don't let it's appearance fool you." Trunks leveled a finger at #16. "That things a complete monster. It's a killing machine, that's all it does, that's it's _sole_ reason for existing!"

"What?!" Kakashi, Naruto, and Izumo became defensive; all eyes zeroing in on the Android.

Tavi jumped in front of her guardian, arms spread in a defensive manner in case anyone aimed to attack. "No! He's not like the others Trunks. #16 loves life, he's proven it time and time again the last _three_ years he's been with me."

"Bullshit!" Trunks snapped, "That thing was made by Dr. Gero, it's made to kill and destroy, period."

"It has to have an ulterior motive." Bulma said, standing as far from the machine as possible while still being involved in the situation. Her voice contained traces of a stutter, showing her hidden nervousness. "Something in that Androids programming could have malfunctioned before it found you. How do you know it won't turn on you at any moment?"

'Androids?' Kakashi thought, 'So those must be the beings that destroyed Trunks home.'

"I'm not lying to you guys," Tavi said, her voice pleading, "#16's different, you just have to trust us."

"There's not a chance in hell I'm trusting that thing. Tsk, I don't even think I can trust _you_ since you brought it around my mother _._ " Venom leaked from Trunks voice.

"At least #16 didn't pick a fight in a hospital you asshat!" Tavi countered.

"ENOUGH!" The Hokage barked, silencing the bickering teens, "Everyone here is to report to my office. Now."

XXX

Tension was still at it's peak during the meeting in Sarutobi's office. The Hokage wanted all witnesses to be present in case there was anyone withholding information regarding Trunks' outburst. The first thing that was discussed, were the events leading up to Tavi and #16's arrival within the village. After Bulma explained just what happened to them, what happened to all of them… everyone took it pretty well.

"Is there a way for us to go back?" Tavi asked hopefully.

"Not yet. But we'll find our way back eventually." Trunks said. Bulma passed her son a pointed glance. Why did he have to keep holding onto that nonexistent possibility?

'Other dimensions? Androids? Time Machines?' Sakura thought in disbelief. It all sounded absolutely unbelievable. She wanted to believe that Trunks, Bulma, and Tavi were crazy; but their mannerisms convinced her they were telling the truth. Haruno could tell by the expression on Ino's face that she was just as bewildered by the revelation. When she glanced at Naruto, she was surprised to see that the Uzumaki didn't have some kind of thunderstruck outburst. "Naruto, did you know about this?" She asked her teammate.

"Yeah." Naruto said casually.

"You didn't think to tell us?" Ino asked.

"You didn't think to ask." Naruto said with a shit eating grin.

"It's not funny Naruto; we're a team, you guys should be able to trust us." Sakura said in a displeased tone.

Naruto shook his head, "Don't look at me, I was just sworn to secrecy."

That made both Sakura and Ino pass hurt glances to Trunks. Did he not trust them?

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sakura asked.

The saiyan's voice was sullen as he spoke, "Be honest with yourselves, would you have _really_ believed me?"

The two girls wanted to say yes, but…

"What are we supposed to do while we're here?" Tavi asked.

"Stay with us, obviously!" Bulma said cheerfully. "I have a Capsule House set up that's got enough space for the three of us."

"That's great, but, what about #16?"

"It's not coming anywhere near my house." Trunks said spitefully.

"Ugh, you're such a jerk!" Tavi growled, "I bet if Gohan met #16 he'd give him a chance."

"Maybe that would be relevant if Gohan wasn't _dead_!" Trunks snapped.

Tavi's heart skipped a beat. "...what…?"

"Yeah, he's dead." Trunks said bitterly as he wiped his eyes with his forearm, "Surprise surprise, guess you didn't get the message."

A tremble built in Tavi's lips as her eyes watered. She wouldn't allow herself to cry, but, that was unexpected. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I... had no idea."

"Yeah, well, you're about a year behind on the news." He said.

The room was blank with washed in silence, one that the Hokage broke.

"Like Trunks; Tavi-chan, if you are to be given residence within this village you will become a member of our Shinobi forces. Is that okay with you?"

"I suppose." She said.

'It's not okay with me.' Bulma thought, but she knew there was no point in arguing over it.

"Ooh! Can she join our team?!" Naruto asked.

"No." The Hokage said simply. "You have a four man squad as it is, giving you an extra would be ridiculous."

"Agreed." Kakashi said.

"I'll provide you with a team later, as of now the Chunin Exams are in session."

"Anyone mind explaining this to me?" The blue haired girl asked.

"I will." Sakura said.

"Good," Sarutobi said. His gaze then settled on Trunks, "Although you _should_ be severely punished for your outburst earlier, under the circumstances, I will show mercy. Your punishment will be to replaster and repaint the hallways that you have destroyed, by _tonight_. Kakashi will also issue disciplinary action of his choice."

Trunks sighed, "Yes sir."

The Hokage's eyes then shifted to the other Genin, "The three of you are not to speak a word of what transpired here to anyone; especially other Genin. You're only exception is Sasuke Uchiha, and that is strictly because he is you're teammate. You understand Naruto?"

"Hey I've done a pretty good job of that this last month if I say so myself." The Uzumaki bragged.

The Hokage smiled in relief, knowing he managed to solve the majority of his issues at hand. Now, one more thing before he dismissed them, "Those senzu beans, how long do they take to grow?" He asked the daughter of Tien.

"A long time. Usually about 4 to 6 months. And one bean only grows four." She said, pulling out the bag.

Hiruzen smirked, "That's good to know, but we have remedies that can not only cut that time in half, but also multiply the number of beans grown by five. That is, if you're willing to supply me with one."

"Whoa, really?! Alright, deal." She pulled out the bean and tossed it to Hiruzen.

The Hokage studied the small bean, already imagining how much of an advantage this would give the Leaf over other villages, "You've just done us a great charity, this one bean will save dozens of shinobi and civilian lives."

"I'm glad I could help." The girl said bashfully.

"Now," Hiruzen said heartily, "seeing we've sorted out this little predicament, you're all dismissed."

XXX

As the group left the Hokage's building, Kakashi decided to split up, telling Trunks and Naruto to meet him at the Hospital early tomorrow morning. Tavi gave #16 permission to wander, while giving him strict orders to stay away from Trunks and Bulma.

As Tavi moved to go home with Bulma, Sakura called out to her, "Hey Tavi, come with us!" The blue haired teenager saw that Naruto, Trunks, Sakura, and Ino were together; inviting smiles were given from Naruto and Sakura, while Ino's expression was a little less inviting...to say the least.

'Why not?' she figured before following after them. "Where we goin'?" She asked.

"We need to go back to the hospital," Sakura said, "Trunks needs to get his sword and sign out."

The saiyan hadn't said a word during the trip back to the medical center, even while Sakura and Naruto were chatting it up with the new girl of their group. Ino wanted to say something, but after finding out just where he came from, and what his home was really like, she just couldn't bring herself to talk to him.

Lucky for her, she wasn't given the details to just how bad his home really was.

"Hey Trunks, you alright?" Naruto asked, "You're quieter than usual."

The Uzumaki received no answer.

" _His pride's just a little sore since he got his butt kicked._ " Tavi whispered to him and Sakura.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." The Uzumaki said as the five walked through the hospital doors.

"I'm getting my sword and I'm going home." Trunks said bluntly to his friends before walking off.

"Geez, why's he being such a jerk?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah he's almost as bad as Sasuke." Naruto said. He was tempted to call the saiyan out on his attitude.

Tavi sighed, "He'll get over it, trust me. But what are we gonna do now that he's gone."

Naruto took some time to think, then he got an idea, "Hey, you wouldn't mind giving up that last senzu bean would you?"

"That depends, what for?" The teen asked.

"We need it for a friend, he got injured really badly during the exams." Naruto said.

Sakura and Ino knew exactly who the whiskered knucklehead was talking about.

XXX

The Green Beast of Konoha lay in a hospital bed, arm and leg in a cast with various other bandages wrapped and plastered to his body. Although he slept peacefully, Rock Lee's form was of a broken mess compared to the mastered and hearty sculpture of muscle it had been.

"He looks like he's in really bad shape." Tavi noted as she and the rest observed from the peek in window from the hallway.

"Yeah," Sakura said, "they say he might never be able to use his body the same again. His shinobi career could be over."

"Who did that to him?" Tavi asked.

"The same guy Trunks is gonna fight in the tournament; one month from now." The Yamanaka said.

Tavi pulled out the sack that held the last senzu bean. Was it really a good idea to give it up to some guy in the hospital? She could just get more in the next couple of months, but what if there was an emergency? The teen shrugged, 'Oh what the heck.' Before entering the medical room; followed by Naruto, Sakura, and Ino.

She stood beside Lee's bed, "Hey, wake up." Tavi patted the wounded taijutsu specialist on the cheek.

Lee's closed eyelids twitched before he stirred awake. His vision was blurry, but as it adjusted, he was greeted with the sight of one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen staring down at him. He blushed, "A...Are you an angel?" He asked, thinking he'd died.

Naruto, Sakura, and Ino laughed while Tavi deadpanned,"What the f-, just eat the damn bean!" Tavi shoved the senzu into Lee's mouth, forcing the bowl cut Genin to chew and swallow it.

Lee's eyes widened as he felt his crushed arm and leg heal almost instantly. He whooped and jumped out of bed, "You healed me! You really are an angel!" The Green Beast exclaimed before he grabbed Tavi into a tight hug.

" _No problem, I'm glad I could help."_ Tavi said through a forced smile and gritted teeth.

Lee got down on one knee and took Tavi's right hand, "I _must_ know your name she who has healed me." Lee said in a gentlemanly manner.

The Blue haired girl's eye twitched at the awkward roller coaster she was thrown in. ' _Maaaybe_ I should've left him unconscious.'

"Her name's Tavi, she's new around here." Naruto said, picking up on the other teen's embarrassment.

Lee turned to the other members of the rookie 10, "Naruto, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, what are you doing here?"

"We came to see you awake, silly." Sakura said. "Trunks is healed too, and tomorrow he, Sasuke, and Naruto are gonna start training for the tournament."

"Got that right." Naruto grinned.

'Naruto, Trunks, and Sasuke...training? I can't let them leave me behind.' Lee thought. He turned to Tavi, "I will never forget the kindness that you have done for me Tavi-chan," the Green Beast looked deep into the Shinhan's eyes, "And I will never forget _you_ either." He winked, making Tavi cringe.

Lee scuttled out of the room, intent on celebrating his renewed health with his beloved master.

Awkward silence ensued.

"...Can we pretend that never happened?" Tavi asked her friends.

The three traded glances before grinning. "Nope." They said in unison, making Tavi sweatdrop.

Sakura put her hands on the blue haired girl's shoulders in a comforting manner, "I understand just how traumatizing this situation was for you; believe me, I know. But Rock Lee's a total sweetheart, you'll get used to him." The pinkette said.

"If you say so." Tavi said, not buying Sakura's B.S for a second. "Anyways, I helped your friend, what now?"

"You guys hungry?" Naruto asked.

Sakura groaned, "Uuuugghh, I don't think anyone wants"

"Ramen!" The Uzumaki cheered.

"I am kinda hungry." Ino said. Sakura still looked doubtful.

"It's my treat." Naruto said enticingly.

"Free food? I'm game. Let's go." Tavi said, instantly siding with Naruto.

"I think I'm starting to like her already." Naruto said slyly while putting an arm on the Shinhan's shoulder.

Sakura sighed. It was 3 against 1 and she didn't wanna be alone. Looks like she had to bite the bullet on this one. She'd have to teach the blonde to expand his diet at some point.

XXX

 _The skies over the Hidden Leaf were blackened with smog and cinder, the entirety of the village burning in active flames that destroyed buildings and people alike. The faces of the Hokage monument were scorched, cracked, and falling to pieces from stray Ki blasts. The streets were paved in blood, burned bodies of civilians and shinobi, and ninja weapons that proved futile against the fiends they tried to defend themselves against. The air, was putrid with the smell of smoke and burning flesh._

 _Sarutobi stood watching the chaos with his surviving shinobi atop a building roof, "Evacuate the women and children, and throw everything you have at those monsters!" Hiruzen ordered his Chunin and Jonin, "If we fail here, everything will be destroyed." The Fire Shadow watched painfully as his citizens were picked off one by one by Ki blasts. Hiruzen hadn't seen this level of destruction since the Kyuubi's attack on the village those years ago._

 _Laughter could be heard among the mayhem, somehow barely audible over the screams, cries, and sounds of explosions. The source was from the people responsible for the mayhem._

 _No._

 _These weren't people._

 _These three fiends were artificial life forms that bore the insignia of the red ribbon army. Two of the three were twins, a boy and a girl. The boy had shoulder length black hair parted down the middle. An orange bandana was tied around his neck, hanging over his black t-shirt that was layered over a long sleeve white shirt. The girl was a beautiful blonde with shoulder length hair like her brothers. She wore a denim vest over a long sleeved shirt. The twins most striking feature, were their piercing blue eyes; gleaming with a sick sense of enjoyment from every life that was snuffed out at their hands. The third member of their trio, was Android #16._

" _Hey #18, #16, looks like I'm in the league." #17 said as he destroyed another building, watching the rubble collapse onto a group of fleeing villagers. The cyborgs were high in the sky, now far out of reach for any shinobi weapons to reach; like it would make a difference._

" _Whatever #17," #18 said to her brother, she and #16 taking pot shots at the fleeing villagers and powerless shinobi, "you had a headstart, you cheater."_

 _#17 grinned, "It's just a game, no need to throw a hissy fit." He looked down to see a pack of ninja and the Hokage gathered atop the Hokage Tower, a building that surprisingly survived the Androids onslaught. "Looks like another round of the cavalry showed up." #17 noted to his synthetic siblings._

 _#18 and #16 stared down at the men and women who were still making an effort to save the burning hell-hole that was once their village._

 _A group of twenty Jonin, Chunin, and Anbu lined up behind their Fire Shadow. Their faces were painted with hopelessness. They'd all lost their homes, friends, loved ones. Whatever they threw at these monsters was shrugged off and waved away like it was nothing. Among these Jonin was Kakashi and Asuma._

" _Men, get ready." Sarutobi said darkly. In unison the shinobi made a handsign for the same Jutsu. "Fire!"_

" _ **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"**_ _The Shinobi called out as a flurry of fireballs shot from their gullets._

 _#18 rolled her eyes at the oncoming barrage of fireballs, equaling the dozens "Here they go again, I guess these idiots didn't get the message the first five times."_

 _The balls of flames closed in on the three mass-murderers, "Humans," #17 said, "This is why they're so fun to play with."_

 _In a thundering explosion that shook the village, causing some of the burning buildings to collapse into piles of sooty wreckage, the fireballs hit their targets._

 _The shinobi and Hiruzen kept their guard up, waiting for the smoke to clear. To their revelation, the skies were empty._

 _Izumo felt like praising the heavens; the monsters were dead, "We...we did it!" *crunch* The Chunin looked down at his chest to see a bloody fist sticking out of it. The surviving shinobi stared on in horror at their comrade, who had coughed up a mouthful of blood onto the tier._

" _You'd have thought." #17 said as he pulled his hand out, a sickening squelch coming from the gaping wound in Izumo's chest cavity. The Androids stood among the shinobi, not so much as a scratch or speck of dust on them._

 _Izumo collapsed onto the rooftop, a pool of crimson quickly building up around his corpse._

 _Knowing their odds were slim to none, the surviving ninja still pulled their kunai and attacked the cyborgs._

 _With bloodlusted grins, the cyborgs brutally mangled or destroyed any and every shinobi they got ahold of._

 _Asuma went into slash #16's neck from behind, but was ripped in half by the gargantuan cyborg._

 _Kakashi's hand sparked with lightning. The son of the White Fang's Chidori would find its way through the chest of the boy, just as his had found its way through Izumo's. The Scarecrow moved in a blur, moving at a speed that should've been too fast for #17 to see, but as he closed the distance, #17 turned around and grabbed Kakashi's arm, the sound of chirping deafened by the pained cries of his shinobi comrades being slain by the other two Androids. One poor soul that #18 blasted had all the flesh seared from his body, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton behind for the world._

 _#17's grin spread even wider, relishing in the hopelessness that he brought the silver haired Jonin. In one solid jerk to the side, Kakashi's forearm snapped, making the man scream to the heavens. To shut him up, #17 punched Kakashi in the face, removing the jounin's entire head with it._

 _Sarutobi stared sorrowfully at the corpses of the brave men and women who'd given everything for the sake of their home. The pool of blood that collected from their bodies began to seep to his sandals. Hiruzen knew there was nothing he could do, but he mustered up one of the most disdainful looks he could and aimed it right at #16, "We trusted you, you monster."_

 _Without a word, and with a disturbingly gentle smile, the Android approached the Hokage, and held his hand in front of Hiruzen's face._

 _The last thing Sarutobi saw was a flash of yellow light._

 _On the outskirts of the village, four surviving Genin rushed back to their home._

 _Naruto, who was shrouded in his red chakra cloak. Sasuke, who had his sharingan activated. Trunks, who was a Super Saiyan. And Tavi Shinhan._

 _There was no longer any gate for the four to walk through, the massive hole left in the village walls served as the only escape route for the fleeing civilians._

 _Sprinting inside, Trunks' heart skipped a beat, having not seen his mother among the crowd of fleeing villagers._

 _His teeth grit, those monsters would pay._

 _The four teens stood in the city square, surrounded by burning wreckage."Where are they?" Naruto growled, red eyes trying to scan through the smoke haze._

 _Sasuke's equally red eyes surveyed his surroundings, but the Sharingan allowed him to see better through the heavy haze that obscured the vision of his other three companions. He noted three figures on top of the Hokage Tower. "There!" He alerted his comrades._

 _The four fazed out._

 _#17 yawned, "I'm bored now, you guys ready to finish this place?"_

" _Yeah," #18 shrugged, "let's see if there's anymore towns like this one. That should spark things up again."_

" _Hey!" A voice called out to them._

 _The three Androids turned to see four new arrivals standing their ground behind them. One of them looked very familiar._

" _Hey look, it's Gohan's little friend." #18 said, knowing things were going to be just a little more amusing for her and her siblings._

 _#17 smirked, "Didn't we just kill your mom? Oh well, you'll be joining her soon enough."_

 _Trunks shook in barely controlled fury, his aura exploding out of him. Naruto's features grew even more animalistic._

 _Tavi looked desperately to the machine that was once her guardian, her companion, her family. Maybe it wasn't too late for him._

" _#16 stop this, this isn't you!" She reasoned. "You protect people, you've protected me, it's what you've always done!"_

 _At this, the mohawked Android smirked. In an instant he held up Tavi by her throat, the blue haired teenager struggling to breath and free herself from the machines impossibly strong grip. "No Tavi." #16 started, "I merely traveled with you so that you could take me to the other humans." He brought the young girl up close to his face as he whispered, "You were just a means to fulfill my own programming."_

 _The survivors of Team 7 shuddered at the loud wet snap that came from Tavi's neck, the Android having snapped it like a twig._

 _Time slowed as #16 tossed the teens lifeless body over the balcony; letting it disappear into the smoke and flames below._

" _TAVI!" The three boys shouted before they sprung into action._

 _Naruto formed six shadow clones that charged in at #17. With a wave of the Androids hand the clones were dispersed, and the Uzumaki was met with a rib shattering knee to chest, dropping him to his own hands and knees._

 _Sasuke set his Sharingan activated eyes on #18, forming the handsigns for his fireball jutsu. The ball of infernus spewed from the Uchihas gut, heading straight for the blonde beauty._

 _Without a sliver of effort, a Ki blast fired from #18's hand and swallowed up the fireball, continuing straight to the stunned Uchiha._

 _Sasuke's screams echoed through Trunks and Naruto's ears as he was disintegrated. Wiped completely from existence._

" _That's two gone." #18 snickered as she stared down Trunks._

 _#17 put his boot atop Naruto's head, forcing the Uzumaki's face to the ground. With a bit of pressure, Naruto's head splattered like a watermelon._

 _Trunks watched on in horror as all three of his friends were stamped from existence, almost as if they were insects._

 _No._

 _They all were insects._

" _Now," #17 started as he scraped the blood and brain matter off his shoes onto the roof pavement. His gaze settled on Trunks just as his siblings had, "What do you guys say we take our time with this one?"_

" _Let's." #18 sneered as the cyborgs closed in on the Saiyan._

 _XXX_

"AAAAAAAAUUUGGHHHHH!" Trunks's screams filled the Capsule home in the night. The continued screams woke Bulma and Tavi, the latter of whom had slept on the pullout couch in the living room.

The screams wouldn't stop, going on, and on, and on until the two rushed into the Saiyans bedroom.

Bulma threw open the saiyan prince's bedroom door; her and Tavi gasping in horror at the son of Vegeta convulsing in his own bed. The two rushed over to him.

"Trunks, Trunks wake up!" Bulma and Tavi begged; the scientist shaking the teen as hard as she could.

The screams turned to whimpering as the saiyan stirred awake. His eyes popped open, revealing to Bulma the glossy teal instead of their usual ocean blue. When he saw that Tavi was right next to him and ok, his eyes turned back to normal.

"Mom, I-"

"You had another nightmare Trunks." Bulma said. This wasn't the first night terror that the saiyan had. Neither was it hers.

Trunks could feel his room was a lot warmer. Maybe he really was about to transform in his sleep.

The daughter of Tien sat down on Trunks's bed, "Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked him.

The saiyan considered it, but the details would be too much for his mother too handle. "No. No I don't." He said. "What time is it?"

The inventor looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. "It's 5:22 A.M" Trunks removed his covers so he could get out of bed. "It's still really early Trunks. You don-"

"I have to meet Kakashi at 6. That, and I _really_ don't feel like going back to sleep." The prince said. Bulma and Tavi couldn't argue that. As they left the saiyan to his morning routine, Trunks stopped his friend at the door, "Where is he?"

Knowing exactly who he was talking about, but not exactly sure if she should tell him, Tavi glared, "He's in the woods, why?"

"...for security's sake." He said, receiving a pointed look from Tavi before she left him alone.

XXX

It was daybreak by the time the saiyan reached the hospital. He settled on wearing a normal black t-shirt, with his blue jeans, blue shoes, and digital watch strapped to his wrist. His signature sword was strapped to his back as well; no way in hell was the survivor leaving that behind.

After walking through the front doors Trunks noticed, Kakashi hadn't told him where _exactly_ to meet up with him.

He approached the front desk, "Excuse me, have you seen Kakashi Hatake?"

The clerk woman gave him a glance before saying, "Uchiha Sasuke's room. B108."

"Thanks." He said as he turned away.

"There's no visitors allowed."

"What!?" Trunks and another voice exclaimed at the same time.

The demi-saiyan turned to see it was Naruto who had just entered the hospital lobby. "Whad'ya mean there's no visitors allowed, are you kidding me?!"

"We're in a hospital Naruto, can you keep it down?" Kakashi said, walking down the hallway. He was accompanied by another man, "It's nice that you two showed up."

"Kakashi-sensei, where's that sensei you were talking about?" Naruto asked as he looked around, completely disregarding Ebisu.

Kakashi jabbed a thumb to the tokubetsu jonin standing beside him, "You're looking at him."

"What?! That closet pervert!? He's even weaker than I am!" Naruto shouted, making the jonin sweatdrop.

Trunks himself didn't see anything special about the guy, but hey, looks could deceive.

Kakashi tried to reason with the prankster, "Naruto, believe me, I would not have picked this jonin if I didn't think he was capable.

Naruto's face scrunched up.

'Such insolence.' Ebisu thought. "If you settle down I'll buy you whatever you want to eat later."

"Whatever I want?" That shut Naruto up.

"It's good to know the two of you are acquainted." Kakashi said. "But know Naruto, I'm not turning you down because I'm playing favorites. I'm turning you down because I can't give you the attention you deserve. Ebisu is an elite jounin just like I am, so he'll do just as good a job."

"If you say so sensei." Naruto grumbled.

Ebisu smirked before he got down to Naruto's level, "How about this. If you can beat me in a race, I'll make Kakashi train you. I'll even give you a head start."

"Really?" The Jinchuuriki looked back and forth between Ebisu and his team sensei. Kakashi shrugged 'why not.', making an ear to ear grin split Naruto's face. "You're on, name the finish line." He challenged.

"The village gates, run as fast as you can."

In an orange and blue streak, the blonde was out. " _Eat my dust closet perv."_ Could be heard from outside.

Ebisu smirked before adjusting his shades, "Well gentleman, I shall see you around."

"Don't go easy on him." Kakashi told the shaded jonin.

"I don't plan on it." Ebisu fazed out.

Kakashi nodded for Trunks to follow him, the two walking straight to Sasuke's room.

"Is he awake?" Trunks asked.

"See for yourself." Kakashi said as he opened the door. Sasuke sat up in his bed, working out the kinks in his shoulders and neck. He noticed Kakashi and Trunks enter, but he didn't acknowledge them.

"Hey Sasuke, it's good to see you're awake." Trunks said, breaking the ice with his teammates.

The Uchiha gave Trunks a passing glance, turned away saying, "Yeah."

Trunks had already gotten used to Sasuke's short answers. He also noticed a strange marking around Sasuke's curse mark.

"Get ready, both of you. All of our time will be spent in the remote corners of the village to train. And we will _only_ train, for the next month." Kakashi said, getting nods from his two students.

XXX

Upon getting a good look at where they'd be training, Trunks could see why this part of the village was remote. There was almost zero vegetation, leaving the area rocky and almost desert like. A small canyon was carved out in their personal training ground.

"Sasuke, get warmed up. I'll be with you in a second." Kakashi told the Uchiha. He turned to Trunks, "You, I need to have a word with."

Trunks could tell by the hint of edge in Kakashi's voice that he was in trouble.

The scarecrow's voice didn't lose its underlying edge, "Don't think you're off the hook for what happened yesterday Trunks. Now, even though the Hokage wants me to discipline you, I won't do that, it's not my style. But, I will warn you. This village, is my _number one_ priority. The people _in_ this village, are my family, that includes you. _Anyone_ who comes across as a threat to this village, and my family, will be destroyed by my hand. If you have another incident like what happened in the hospital, I _will_ make sure you're branded an enemy to the village...and I will deal with you as such. Do I make myself clear?" Kakashi said.

"Y-Yes." Trunks said nervously. He couldn't explain why, but Kakashi speaking calmly to him came off as 10x scarier than if he'd yelled.

"Good." Kakashi said. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering what kind of training you'll be doing."

"Yes I am, actually." Trunks said awkwardly.

"Well, you might find this disappointing, but the training you'll be doing won't be as hands on, or as personal compared to what I work on with Sasuke, but it will be useful to you nonetheless. Transform into a Super Saiyan."

XXX

"Heh, this is a piece of cake!" Naruto said as he walked across the hot spring water. Ebisu must have thought he'd take forever to learn a technique like this.

Ebisu adjusted his shades, he hadn't expected Naruto to master water walking this easily. He'd managed to catch the blonde Jinchuuriki in their race; even after Naruto tried to cheat using shadow clones. "Splendid work Naruto, it appears I was wrong about you. There's a lot more to you than meets the eye."

"Yeah, people get that reac-whaaauuughh" The blonde saw a man peeking into the women's bathing area, making him slip and fall into the steaming water, "Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!" Naruto crawled out of the hot spring, skin red like a lobster.

Ebisu also caught a gaze of the man as well. From the back he had rough white hair that was tied back into a long waist-length ponytail. "Peeking into the hot springs old man?" Ebisu said silkily before charging at the peeping Tom, "I will not allow any disreputable behavior!"

The old man turned around, scoffing, "Oh please." Before he formed a one handed sign. In an explosion of white smoke the man sat atop a frog. A really _big_ frog.

"What the-!" Ebisu exclaimed before the frog's tongue wrapped tightly around his waist, flinging him up in the air and slamming him to the ground, knocking him unconscious.

"Whoa…" Naruto breathed. The man dispersed his toad. Naruto looked back and forth between his now unconscious sensei and the man who laid him out, "Hey frogman what was that all about?! You just flattened my sensei, who do you think you are?"

The man shot a grin to the blonde knucklehead that he instantly recognized. He wouldn't let the kid know that though. "The name's Jiraiya, kid. Acclaimed best-selling author." The sage held out a copy of his Icha-Icha book,

'Oh great, _he_ wrote that garbage?' Now Naruto knew who to blame for Kakashi's bad habits.

Jiraiya glanced back at the still unconscious jounin, "And sorry about that, he shouldn't have interrupted my research."

"Research!? Bullcrap, you just wanna reason to peep at women in the bath house!" Naruto declared loudly.

Jiraiya shuddered at the sounds of screams coming from the other side of the bath houses. "Agh, look what you've done, I need my research!" The sage cried.

"Well, you better get ready for a hiatus, cause you're training me."

The toad sage raised an eyebrow, "Training? Do I get a say in this?"

Naruto shook his head, "You just K.O'd my sensei, I think you owe me that much old man."

Jiraiya chuckled, he wasn't gonna say no, but he didn't wanna say yes to the rascal just yet. "Come walk me, talk with me."

XXX

"So, you've got the nine tails huh?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin like he didn't know already. He led Naruto to what was conveniently the blondes favorite pig out spot, Ichiraku's. Something he'd eaten now twice that day.

Naruto gulped down his mouth full of noodles, "That's right."

"And since you can use Fūton: Renkūdan, you've learned that your elemental affinity is for wind. That's pretty impressive kid."

Naruto shrugged, "I guess so. And my name's Naruto, Pervy Sage."

"Yeah yeah whatever." Jiraiya waved the Jinchuuriki off. "So tell me, who are you gonna fight in these exams?"

After slurping down the soup in his ramen bowl, he listed off names, "Neji Hyuuga, eventually Sasuke Uchiha, and then my friend Trunks Brief."

"Trunks Brief? I heard of that kid." Jiraiya whistled, "He is something. I don't think you could beat any of them as you are." The Sage said bluntly.

"But-"

Jiraiya held a hand to silence Naruto, " _But_ , if you're willing to bust your ass with me this next month, I can teach you some techniques that'll even out the playing field. You could mop the floor with Neji, make mincemeat out of Sasuke, and put Trunks on his knees."

Naruto spun in his seat in joy, "So that means you'll train me!?"

"That's right." Jiraiya said, "First I'll show you how to summon a toad. Then, I'll see if I can show you another wind based technique. Finally," Jiraiya poked Naruto in the stomach, "I'll show you how to take advantage of the big guy's power, draw from his chakra. Maybe get a couple of _tails_ worth?" Jiraiya grinned, "How's that sound?"

For one of the few times in his life, Naruto didn't know what to say. All he could do was let a radiant smile split across his face, and nod.

XXX

A/N: And there we have it, a 20 page long chapter. I didn't want too many filler chapters before the tournament, so I just jammed this chapter full of necessary scenes so we could begin the Third Phase next update.

And how was the nightmare scene? I tried to go all out with it, let my sadistic side take over; if you know what I mean. I also tried to make up for the curbstomp battle that Trunks had with #16.

Oh yeah, and before I go, I want to make a Youtube video recommendation to you guys.

If you want a fantastic, fan-made, live-action DBZ movie starring Future Trunks, watch 'Dragon Ball Z: The Fall of Man'.

It's a realistic take on DBZ lore and I promise you won't be disappointed ^_^

Anyways, that's all for you guys. Until next time, stay gold!


	21. The Tournament Begins

A/N: I had a very busy last few weeks, but now I FINALLY got this chapter out haha. Anyways, Let the Exams begin!

XXX

The thirty days leading up to the tournament couldn't have passed any slower for those excited to see it. For the contestants, the days leading up to the exams had been fast, grueling, tough, brutal... but rewarding. For some of them, the days went by too quick; especially for Naruto. The Uzumaki couldn't help but feel there was more that he could have accomplished in his month of training with Jiraiya. Not that he was ungrateful or anything, but still.

As the whiskered jinchuuriki rushed through the village streets; crowded as they were with foreigners, civilians, and shinobi looking forward to the tournament; he reconsidered leaving his ninjato at home. He may have wanted to beat Neji and some of the other contestants down, but he didn't wanna cut their arms off or anything. Then again, Trunks would most likely have his sword so why not bring his?

Upon reaching the coliseum, Naruto realized he never _really_ got a good look at it from all of his time living in the village. It was huge. Big enough to contain any jutsu that a mere genin could dish out; or Trunks if he held back considerably. After squeezing through the extremely long line leading through to the entranceway, Naruto noticed just how grand the coliseum was on the inside. There were thousands of seats; enough to accommodate the thousands of people that traveled from across the Elemental Nations to watch his performance. There was a box established exclusively for the Kage to watch, separated on a deck away from the common audience. The Uzumaki also took interest in the arena floor. It was very similar to the training grounds he and other shinobi had used; with natural dirt, and vegetation lining the oval-ish interior.

There were already hundreds of people taking their seats, having purchased their tickets. Naruto noticed Bulma and Tavi taking their seats within' the stands; Sakura and Ino were joining them.

"Hey Naruto."

The Uzumaki turned to see it was Shikamaru getting his attention. All contestants were supposed to meet on the arena floor.

Standing alongside Shikamaru, Shino, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Dosu, and Kankuro; Naruto could feel the focus of over 1000 pairs of eyes bearing down on him… and it felt good.

But there was one problem.

" _*psst* Naruto._ " Shikamaru nudged the Jinchuuriki, "Aren't we missing two people?"

From the stands, Tavi noticed this as well. "Bulma, where's Trunks?" This made Bulma, Ino, and Sakura glance around for the Saiyan; at the same time the latter two noticing Sasuke was missing as well.

Sarutobi stared down at the nine figures on the arena floor. Eight of them were competitors; the ninth being the referee for the matches, a Jonin by the name of Genma Shiranui. Hiruzen cursed when he noticed his two star contestants weren't down there on the floor, meaning their Jonin had to be responsible in some way.

'Damn it Kakashi.'

"Sir there is still no sign of Uchiha Sasuke or Trunks Brief, but we have a few squads searching for them." Said a jounin before he leaned over to whisper into his Kage's ear. "Do you think it's possible Orochimaru may have gotten to the boys?"

The Sandaime scowled at the thought, but before he could comment however he caught sight of a pair of white and blue robes out of the corner of his eye. Upon seeing them he turned to greet the arriving Kazekage.

"Kazekage-dono, you must be tired from the long journey."

"Not at all. Though it's a good thing the exams were held here this time. While you are still young the trip may have been too much for you Hokage-sama. Perhaps it's time you choose a fifth."

"Please don't treat me like an old man. The fire in me still burns as strongly as it did twenty years ago." Said the old man as the Kazekage took his seat.

"It seems we have two missing." Said the Kazekage upon taking his seat, eyes scanning the field.

"Yes, it seems as if young Sasuke and Trunks have decided not to show up. If they do not arrive by the time of their arranged matches, they will have to be disqualified. Which will be quite disappointing; I was looking forward to Trunks match with Sabaku no Gaara most of all." Said Sarutobi.

"Perhaps we can give the boys more time. I know many of the lords came mainly to see the famous Uchiha survivor fight, and word has spread about a ki wielding shinobi; which has only increased publicity for these exams to their record high. The betting pool from Sasuke's fight alone has been astronomical."

"I am aware of this, though I was unaware you were a betting man. I suppose for the sake of the audience getting their money's worth, we can extend the time. But, if we are not given a stellar performance by either of them, they will not receive a promotion; regardless of their win."

Before the Kazekage could say a word the veteran Kage had already stood up and moved to the balcony causing the stadium to erupt into cheers as his villagers laid eyes upon him.

"Thank you all for coming and welcome to the Hidden Leaf Chunin Selection Exam. We will now start the main tournament matches between the ten who made it through the preliminary rounds. I hope you all enjoy." Said Sarutobi causing the crowd to erupt into cheers.

XXX

"Alright you guys take a look. In case you forgot this is the lineup for the main matches." Started Genma as he showed them a sheet of paper with the matches printed on it. "As you can see there will be five matches in the first round. The winner of the first match still face the winner of the second match in the second round. Also the winner of match four will go on to match five to determine who moves to the second round.

In case you forgot the rules I will now reiterate. In these matches anything goes. However should I say the match is over; then it is over. Should you try to continue after I have officially stopped a match you will not only be disqualified and lose your chance for promotion but you will also be fined, suspended from active duty, and whatever other punishment your Kage decides upon. Am I understood?" finished the man getting nods from each of the competitors.

"Wait a minute," Naruto started, "we're still missing two people. Are we really gonna start without'em?

The senben that Genma kept in his mouth wiggled dangerously as he spoke, "The two contestants will be given a slight delay. If they don't show up by that time, they're disqualified."

Gaara scowled fiercely; 'Coward.' How dare Trunks try to puss out on a fight with him? Oh well, either way, Sabaku no Gaara would hunt that bastard down and destroy him; and anyone who dared get in his way.

'Damnit Gaara,' Baki silently cursed, 'despite my warnings, could he have went after Trunks and killed him in secrecy?'

Bulma glanced to all of the entrance ways into the arena; searching fruitlessly for her son who would be competing in a battle to the death. Seriously, who did the people in this world think they were making kids _publicly_ fight to the death? 'Maybe it's for the best if he doesn't show up.' The inventor thought. Though she didn't feel any better about having to watch his friend fight either.

'Trunks…' Ino thought worriedly. She didn't take the saiyan for a coward in the slightest, so she knew he wouldn't chicken out. She also took Trunks as someone who knew to show up to a major event _on time_ ; so what could've been holding him back?

Sakura growled, "This has Kakashi-sensei written all over it. Only he would keep Trunks and Sasuke-kun out for this long."

"Your sensei sounds like a lazy jerk." Tavi said bluntly.

"I have to agree with her." Ino nodded.

XXX

"Alright guys," Genma started, "as you know, the first match is between Temari and Shikamaru. Everyone else, report to the observation area."

As the other Genin left, Naruto passed Shikamaru a thumbs up. "Good luck man."

"Thanks." Shikamaru sighed, staring down the blonde sand sibling across from him, "Well, here goes nothin'."

XXX

As the battle between two genius tacticians ensued, a familiar voice called out to Tavi from within the stands,

"Tavi-chan!"

The daughter of Tien turned to see it was Rock Lee; with an older man who looked almost exactly like him.

" _Hey Lee_." Tavi forced out. She honestly wasn't too thrilled about meeting the green beast again.

Lee said to his Sensei, "That's the angel who healed me sensei. I owe her my life."

Gai gave the purple haired girl a long and pointed stare; making said girl shiver. A thought that went through both Tavi and Bulma's minds were,

'Are those eyebrows real?'

Gai marched down the walkway until he reached Tavi's seating row, standing in front of the young teenager.

"Uh," Tavi started awkwardly, "can I help you."

Gai snatched her up into a tight bear hug, eliciting a loud screech from the teenager,

"Help, rape!"

Comical tears of happiness streamed down Gai's face; not even registering the chagrin he was bringing to a teenage girl, "Thank you thank you thank you _thaaaank_ you for healing my precious student. You don't realize the charity you've showed us!" The bowl-cut man sobbed.

"Hey hey hey, hands off my god-daughter Sir Eyebrows!" Bulma snapped.

Gai released the Shinhan upon hearing the inventors voice, "Oh, Bulma-chan, fancy meeting a gorgeous woman such as yourself in this neck of the woods." The taijutsu Jonin said with a shining smile, one that made Bulma shield her eyes from the glare.

"Yeah," The inventor deadpanned, "I don't believe we've met though."

The bowl-cut Jonin struck a nice guy pose, proclaiming, "Yes, you may not know me but I know you, Bulma-chan,"

'I honestly don't know how i feel about that.' Bulma thought.

"I am the Green Beast of Konoha, the master of taijutsu, the Leafs Noble Gentleman... MAITO GAI!" The Jonin declared passionately, earning him a 'Shut the hell up!' From a random audience member.

Bulma sweatdropped at the man's over the top nature. "Uhhh..." She was speechless.

Ino and Sakura pinched the bridge of their noses while thinking, 'He's still as idiotic as ever.'

'Gee, I feel sorry for whoever wound up on his team.' Tavi thought. Sure they seemed like nice guys, but there was only so much weirdness she could handle.

"Hey," Lee gazed at the contestant box while walking closer to the balcony, "Where's Sasuke and Trunks?"

"Their dumbass jounin is holding them back." Ino scoffed sourly.

Sakura folded her arms, "Yeah, if Kakashi makes them miss this I'm gonna rip his head off."

Gai smirked and chuckled, "Sakura-chan, You of all people should know how Kakashi operates. He'll get them here on time, just expect it to be at the last possible second." Gai turned back to the match, "Trust me."

XXX

Shikamaru's battle was all based on his tactical finesse. He lacked the offensive capabilities that the Kazekage's daughter possessed so his only hope relied in his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Temari calculated the range of his technique and stayed behind a mark that she had scratched in the dirt; thinking she had the match in her hands.

Unknown to her; Shikamaru was purposely letting her tear up the battlefield with her wind attacks. The wind blades would tear deep enough into the ground to leave a noticeable amount of darkness; something he immediately took advantage of.

The second Temari brought up her fan to hit him with another attack, Shikamaru streamed his shadow through the web of gashes in the ground, too discrete for the Kazekage's daughter to see, and connected them right to his target.

"Wh-what?!" Temari exclaimed, finding herself unable to move, "How did-no, impossible, I kept out of your range!"

Shikamaru smirked before nodding to the ground, an act that Temari mirrored, "Why don't you take a closer look toots."

Temari's eyes trailed from Shikamaru's shadow, seeing it woven through the crevices she herself had made in the dirt, having connected to hers albeit hardly noticeable at first sight.

"Damn, how could I let that slip my sight?"

"Because you're an idiot." Shikamaru said smugly. He then got serious, "Now it's time to end this."

Ino cheered from the stands, "Whoo! You got her now Shikamaru, finish her off!"

Temari's heart raced as she neared the Nara, being forced to walk to him as a mirror of the other boys actions.

As the tacticioners stood face to face, Shikamaru slowly rose his hand,

"I quit."

The audience sat in silence.

"WHAT!?" The viewers roared; Ino, Naruto, and Sakura included in the outcry.

Before the audience could start booing, Genma raised his hand to quite them down. "You won, kid. Any particular reason you're dropping out now?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, "Because, me wasting the Kazekage's daughter could lead to some relationship problems between our villages." He shrugged, "I'm willing to make sacrifices." He withdrew his Shadow possession.

At this revelation, the audience cheered. Kurenai, who sat next to Asuma, clapped for the genius who made a noble sacrifice for his home,

"Hm, who would've guessed that the lazy genius had a noble side." She said to her lover.

Asuma smirked to the red eyed jounin next to him, "Yeah, who knew." Although he thought, 'You might have fooled them but you haven't fooled me Shikamaru. I know you were just too lazy to continue the tournament.'

The Kage were also clapping for the show Shikamaru put on.

"Not bad at all, if I say so myself." The Kazekage said to Hiruzen.

Sarutobi nodded, "I agree, and not only did Shikamaru show that he was a proficient tactician; but he has the drive to do what is best for the village. I will promote him to Chunin."

The Kage watched as the Nara went back into the contestants stands.

Genma cleared his throat before calling out, "The next matches to commence will be Aburame Shino, versus Sabaku no Kankuro."

The crowd cheered as the stoic bug shinobi made way to the arena floor.

Kankuro groaned as he, too, descended 'I _really_ don't feel like fighting right now.' He thought. The only reason he didn't drop out now was because he'd made a few additional upgrades to Karasu and brought along a _sec_ _ond_ puppet, Kuroari. Now that he'd seen just what Naruto, Trunks, and Sasuke had been capable of in the prelims, he knew he'd need to step his game up for the… _events_ that would take place later.

Kankuro stood across from Shino; knowing he'd seen just a fraction of what the bug user was capable of. The second Genma called the match, he knew he'd have to gain some distance.

'Good luck Kankuro.' Temari thought. Gaara was uninterested in either of his siblings matches. He was just waiting for his opponent to show up.

Genma waited a moment for the two fighters to get ready, before dropping his hand "Begin!"

Kankuro leapt back and pulled one of his marionettes from his back in one fluid motion. As the bandages to his puppet unraveled; he was startled at seeing Shino having not moved a muscle since the match begun.

"What's wrong kid; you too scared to make a move?" Kabuto said.

Shino tilted his head, "No;" He nodded to the ground, "I thought I'd let them do the work for me."

Kankuro looked down and shuddered, noticing dozens of black beetles scurrying toward him. He turned to see that there were also beetles coming at him from behind. To the sides; same thing.

His normal reaction would have been to stomp on the critters, but for all he knew they could bite right through the soles of his sandals. He instead leaped up high; high above Shino and threw a kunai that stuck into the Aburame's forehead.

Kankuro smirked as he landed, 'Too easy, and I didn't even need to use my kugutsu.'

Shino lay sprawled out on the ground; the audience silent as Genma went to check his corpse.

Naruto gripped the metal railing, 'Shino…' He didn't know the stoic genin very well, but he was still a comrade.

Kiba and Hinata felt their hearts rise into their throats. Their teammate couldn't be dead...could he?

Kurenai, surprisingly, looked less than worried.

Genma kneeled down and began to put his fingers to Shino's throat, checking for a pulse. He didn't know why; the kid had a kunai sticking out of his head, but protocol required that he check the body himself.

Just as his fingers reached an inch away from Shino's neck, the Genins body burst apart in a flurry of beetles; both clicking and flying.

'What the hell!?' Genma, Kankuro, and the majority of the audience thought.

Kankuro turned to the sound of rustling bushes to see Shino strolling out from the shadows.

Despite the slight scare he received, Genma sniggered and thought, 'Looks like the match isn't over just yet.' And cleared off the arena floor.

Kankuro scowled "I guess you are a cockroach, you stamp one of you out and another comes up in your place." The son of the Kazekage completely unraveled Karasu; a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid puppet with jagged teeth and spiky brown hair protruding from its head.

'It's about time he got serious.' Temari thought.

Kankuro's fingers connected with his puppet through invisible chakra wires, allowing him to manipulate the mannequins movements with his fingers. The limbs of the puppet twitched and quivered with every flick of Kankuro's digits.

Shino was unintimidated. He held up his arms, letting dozens of tiny black bugs flow out of his sleeves and form a dark hazy cloud around his arms.

The puppet launched at Shino, two arms coming up to reveal blades at the wrist.

Tavi noticed the wrist blades from the stands. They kind of reminded her of a weapon from a game she saw Oolong play; Assassins-something.

Shino leaned to the left as Karasu thrust its blade towards his face. The Aburame was forced to keep in motion due to the marionette's fast swipes of it's blades.

One swing managed to cut a small gash in his jacket stomach.

"Come on Shino, get some distance." Shikamaru mumbled as he watched the bug user struggle to dodge the puppets attacks.

"I don't get it," Naruto started, "Why won't Shino fight back, doesn't he have some way of attacking Kankuro's puppet?"

Shikamaru shook his head, "Shino's a lot like me; he doesn't have a lot of straight up offensive abilities like you or Sasuke. He needs to attack Kankuro directly and avoid all of his puppets attacks."

Naruto did notice one thing about Shino, despite the bug users stoic facade, not once did he seem concerned or intimidated; almost as if the Aburame had this match under his thumb.

Shino held out both of his hands as the puppet stabbed down again, releasing a thick wave of insects that stopped the strike cold and grabbed hold of the puppets arm.

The audience could see that the Aburame's arms were swarming with his Kikaichu, traveling from his limbs, into the puppets joints, and finally down the chakra wires that Kankuro used to control the puppet.

'Damn,' Kankuro cursed, 'that bastard wanted me to attack, so that he could use his friends to restrict Crow.' He then smirked, 'But he doesn't realize that I have another card up my sleeve.'

Kankuro knew he had to act fast; if Shino's bugs reached his hands then his chakra would be drained.

Kuroari unraveled, revealing a puppet with a bucket shaped face, two sharp red horns and six arms as opposed to the Crow's four; its facial features included three eyes similar to Karasu's, with a dark dishevelled hairstyle. Its body frame resembled that of a barrel.

Temari's brow furrowed, 'Kankuro must be getting desperate if he's resorted to using the Black Ant as well. Looks like this match is over.'

Kankuro released his left hand from the Crow and used it to control the Ant; which flew over Karasu and Shino and landed right behind the Aburame.

It's wooden stomach opened, revealing a tight chamber used to hold its enemies.

Hinata gasped as Kiba stood up from the stands, "Shino, get out of there!" he screamed

But it was too late, the ant used two of its limbs to grab Shino and pull him within its gullet, locking the Aburame tightly within it.

"Fish in a barrel." Kankuro scoffed before releasing the chakra threads, canceling the bugs travel before reattaching a new set of threads. To the shock and awe of the audience, all of the Crows limbs and head detached, revealing sharp blades at the ends of them that Kankuro positioned around the Ant; aiming them right at the open slots around the puppets belly.

'Say goodnight,' Kankuro thought before shouting, " **Secret Black Technique: Iron Maiden!"**

The blades shot into the slots of the puppet, impaling its victim inside.

"SHINO!" The members of the Konoha 12 and their jonin screamed.

Kurenai prepared to leap over the balcony; but was restrained by Asuma.

Kiba held a sobbing Hinata on his shoulder, gazing on in disbelief at his friend's untimely demise. Akamaru sat whimpering on his lap.

'And that's that.' Temari thought. She and Gaara noticed Genma had made his way back to the stadium floor, prepared to check out what would be Shino's skewered corpse.

Kankuro released the hold of his chakra threads before sauntering up to his Ant. Something he failed to notice as he approached it, was a severe lack of blood leaking from it's holding chamber.

The puppet master turned to the ref, "You might wanna take a step back proctor, this'll be a little messy." Before he reached up to unlatch the chamber.

The hatch opened, and a wave of black beetles engulfed the Suna nin.

Genma and the spectators cringed as Kankuro screamed and writhed on the ground; barely noticeable under the blanket of Kikaichu feeding on his chakra.

"Eeeeeewww." Bulma screeched and recoiled in disgust, "I hate bugs." She shivered.

"Yeah," Ino agreed, "bugs are scary enough already; but getting swarmed by beetles that eat your chakra is too much."

Astonished, Genma and the spectators saw Shino once again exit from the bushes; just like earlier.

'It was never really him fighting in the first place.' Genma noticed, 'He had sent out two clones; the first one as a means of throwing off Kankuro and to make him think he drew out the real Shino, and the second one to close the distance in the end.' Shino motioned for his beetles; the insects leaving Kankuro's raw, red, and bite-covered body and scurrying up the Aburame's clothes. "Heh," Genma chuckled, "Winner, Shino Aburame!"

The crowd cheered; Kiba whooping and hollering for his teammate's victory as Hinata clapped.

Temari jumped from the contestant's balcony and raced to her brother's fallen from before the medics could get to him.

It was of no surprise that Gaara didn't follow.

"Kankuro, say something." Temari begged her brother as she kneeled down next to him.

Kankuro's wide eyelids twitched, and thick trails of drool ran out the sides of his mouth. He couldn't respond normally,"T-Te-Tem" He forced out.

He was fine.

The medical-squad placed the twitching teen on a stretcher, and proceeded to cart him off.

Temari turned to see Baki, her sensei, approach her, "Baki-san, what about the mission?"

The Suna-Jonin looked unfazed, "This changes nothing. We'll just have to take care of Kankuro before we set things in action."

Up in the Kage booth; Hiruzen gave a satisfied smile at yet another victory achieved by a leaf Genin. "That is the second time a leaf Genin has outwitted a sand genin. Perhaps your village should make some improvements to the tactical portion of its brutal training regime." He said to the Kazekage.

"Perhaps." The wind shadow said, although he was concerned about an entirely different matter, "Sasuke and Trunks still have yet to make an appearance."

"I see." Hiruzen agreed. "We are already two matches in and the two haven't shown. It appears the odds of them staying qualified is getting slimmer the more time drags on."

"But there is still Naruto-kun's fight with Neji to witness yes?" the Kazekage asked.

"Correct. But if the two do not show after this match, I am afraid they will be booted from the tournament." Hiruzen said. He and the Kazekage's attention returned to the upcoming battle.

Naruto shot a glare at Neji before hopping down from the contestant stands.

"Hmph." Neji scoffed arrogantly before hopping down after Naruto.

The two stood face to face, smirks marking both of their faces. The roaring of the crowd filled the stadium, although a few people cheered for Naruto, if one listened closely they could hear that most of the cheers were for the Hyuuga.

Hinata silently prayed, 'Please be okay Naruto-Kun, I believe in you.'

"You're gonna pay for what you did to her." Naruto growled at the Hyuuga prodigy; barely able to contain his rising anger.

Neji retained his composure; not intimidated in the slightest by the Uzumaki who'd improved exponentially since his days at the academy. Neji smirked, "As if fate would have a loser like you beat me."

"There you go with that fate crap;" Naruto said defiantly, "I can't wait to see the look on your face when I prove you wrong."

"Hmph, you're certainly confident; but that'll just make this victory all the sweeter for me when I'm proven _right_." The veins around Neji's eyes thickened.

Genma dropped his hand, "Begin!"

The two fighters shot away from each other; Neji slipping into his Jyuuken stance while Naruto formed four shadow clones.

Two of the clones charged at the Hyuuga, ninjatos drawn and pulled back for a swing.

Despite being outnumbered, Neji timed the clones swings and leapt over the blades, slapped his palms against the back of their necks in one swift motion and dispersed the two bunshins.

Just as he landed on his feet the Hyuuga was assaulted by the second pair of bunshins. A fist shot at his face that he barely dodged and a foot planted into his back, knocking him forward. Neji rolled forward to avoid a bunshin dropping on top of him.

The prodigy snapped back into his jyuuken stance; facing the two Naruto bunshins with his back turned to the original copy. The three Naruto's ran at Neji, the real copy attempting to come at him from behind in a surprise attack.

A smirk crossed Neji's lips as the three closed their distance. He turned and landed an elbow into the face of the real Naruto; grabbing the blondes arm and swinging him into his bunshins, dispelling the clones and tossing Naruto away as well.

The Uzumaki skid across the dirt and got on all fours. This was getting exciting; but he'd need to step it up a notch.

He formed another three clones and sent two of them at Neji.

"More clones? You're a one trick pony, Uzumaki." Neji scoffed as he moved in on his combatants.

"We're just getting started." Naruto and his remaining copy formed a familiar set of handsigns as Neji slammed his palm slammed into the stomach of one bunshin and into the face of another. " **Wind Style: Air Bullets!"** The balls of air shot at the Hyuuga who still looked less than rattled.

To the shock of the audience, Neji spun in place, " **Rotation!"** And a dome of dense chakra swirled around him; deflecting the air bullets that would either hit the ground and tear up the dirt, or hit the walls of the arena and crack the stone.

'Damn.' Naruto grunted.

"What was that?" Tavi asked to no one in specific. So far it seemed like Neji held the upper hand in this match, but she could tell that Naruto wasn't trying his hardest, either. That move that the Hyuuga performed did interest her however.

"It is called Kaiten," Lee explained, "or Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. It's a form of absolute defense that will not only block most offensive attacks, but also throw the attackers force right back at him. Those who get get caught in the sphere will suffer a nasty amount of damage from the chakra."

"Absolute defense? So does that mean there's no way for Naruto to hit Neji with a jutsu?" Tavi asked.

"It's possible. He just needs to be fast enough." Lee said.

"I noticed that Neji saw Naruto coming even when his back was turned." Sakura noted, "How was that?"

Lee's eyes never left the battlefield, "Aside from the Byakuugan allowing one to see their opponents tenketsu, it has another ability as well. Near 360 degree vision."

"Wow…" The three girls breathed in awe. Hyuugas were definitely not to be trifled with.

Naruto was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Hyuuga was capable of dismantling his clones and he was also capable of deflecting his jutsus. Naruto already knew he couldn't take Neji in taijutsu, 'I might have to use the big guys chakra. That'll really suck because I really wanted to save it for Trunks and Sasuke.'

"Enough of this." Neji pulled Naruto from his thoughts; only standing about a yards distance away from him, "I think I'll end this match _now_." He smoothly slipped down low, his left arm above his left knee while his right arm was angled behind him.

"This match…" Hizashi started, getting Hanabi's attention, "Is over."

In a blur, Neji was in Naruto's face, " **Eight trigrams: 2 palms!"** Naruto was knocked back. " **4 palms!** " Four strikes struck Naruto's torso, " **8 palms!** " Neji's arms moved in a blur as they struck the jinchuuriki ever more, " **16 palms!** " His arms moved even faster " **32 palms!** " the Hyuugas arms were now invisible, striking each and every one of the jinchuuriki's chakra points with flawless accuracy, " **64 PALMS!** " Naruto was sent into the wall of the arena, sending a spiderweb of cracks around the walls impact point.

The Uzumaki slumped down to the ground, motionless.

Hanabi was in awe at the technique she'd watched her cousin perform. It was amazing, but at the same time… terrifying. She turned to Hiashi, "Father, was that the-"

"Yes." Hiashi said, finding it hard to trust his eyes at the moment, "To think that the child of a lesser branch could perfect one of our sacred techniques. It's sickening yet, remarkable."

'I guess my brother truly was denied what was rightfully his.' He thought.

Lee's fists balled tightly, his eyes closed as if he were either meditating or trying to control his emotions, "It's over. Naruto's chakra has been sealed. Without it, he cannot continue this match."

Ino moaned out, "Aaaugh, damnit. I actually thought he could win."

"Naruto…" Sakura said sadly.

'Come on pipsqueak, you can pull through this.' Tavi thought.

At seeing the one she loved downed, Hinata painfully clutched her chest. "Naruto-kun...no, you c-can't give u-up. *cough* *cough* *hack*" She violently coughed up into her hands. Kiba worriedly placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hinata, are you okay? Damn, you still haven't recovered from that fight with him have you?"

She cleared her throat, "I-It's okay Kiba-kun." A series of gasps from the congregate around her brought her attention back down to the arena.

Naruto struggled to move, but he did. He slowly made his way back up to his feet.

Neji's brow furrowed, 'How is he still able to move? He's lucky to be breathing.'

The Uzumaki's hair shadowed his face as he spoke, "That...was it? How pathetic."

"What!?" Neji barked. How dare he insult the Hyuuga's sacred technique. Then it hit him, "No, you're bluffing. All of your abilities lie in your chakra, without it you're in no condition to fight me. Just accept it, your fate was sealed the moment I was decided your opponent."

Naruto's head stayed lowered, his voice held a slight chuckle underlying his speech, "I don't have to accept jack shit, because trust me," He raised his head, giving Neji a spine-chilling view of his now red slitted eyes, "I'm not even _close_ to being through with you." He growled. Every shinobi in the coliseum could feel a sudden change within the air; a change that came from Naruto. Something was drawing out from the whiskered outcast, something deep within him that felt all too familiar to the older konoha ninja.

Neji leaped back in alarm as red chakra burst into being around the blonde, whose whisker marks thickened and canines sharpened as a cosmetic change.

The chakra surged outward, sweeping across the arena floor and forcing Neji to shield his eyes from the wave of dirt and rocks that whizzed through the wind.

'What is this power?' the genius asked. 'I sealed off his chakra coils, I know it!' The dust settled and the chakra swirled up into the air with an ethereal whisper. The spectators could see the red chakra take the form of what could have been tentacles; or, more than likely, tails.

A cold chill ran down Bulma's spine. She, like many others, hadn't expected to see something this...evil. "Is that...Naruto?" She asked.

Having already witnessed the blondes state back in the forest of death, Sakura was more composed. "Yeah." she said with a slight gulp.

"That chakra…" Ino breathed, "its...it's _unreal_." she turned to Shinhan; who herself was unsettled by the evil energy that was flooding the arena, "Tavi, you can sense energy right? How strong is Naruto compared to Trunks?"

The blue haired teenager gulped a bit before stretching her senses. Although she hadn't had to stretch them far. Her eyes widened in awe, "He's… gotten a huge boost. As of now he's on par with Trunks at his peak, at base. If he gets any stronger he could probably brawl with Trunks as a _super saiyan._ "

Shocked gasps resounded from Ino, Sakura, Lee, and Gai. Although she was quite alarmed herself, the blue haired inventor hadn't possessed the ability to sense power, so she couldn't even _begin_ to grasp the scope of just how powerful Naruto was right now.

The Hyuuga geniuses mouth quivered in sheer horror as his Byakugan saw the chakra in Naruto's stomach take the form of a snarling fox.

"He...he isn't human!"

The chakra hugged Naruto's body, going from an aura to that of a second skin almost. If one looked closely they could see the shroud was _boiling,_ with red bubbles glistering from the liquid akin chakra. To confirm Neji's thoughts about a fox, Naruto's red cloak slowly sprouted a tail at the rear, and two ears at the head.

Tavi gasped, "He just got stronger!"

The Hokage's pipe dangled from his mouth, dangerously close to falling out. 'How... when… who taught him to control the beast?!' He saw a few of his Anbu prepare to leap into the Arena, but he signaled for them to stop.

Clawed fingers flexed and crackled, eliciting a grin from the Jinchuuriki who relished in the feeling his new power, 'Man, this is great! I don't think I'll ever get used to this. Maybe this is how Trunks feels whenever he goes super...whatever. And to think I could go _one more tail_ further. Too bad my body would fry if I did. Oh well, one tail is all I need.' His red slitted eyes focused on the Hyuuga who flinched at the gaze, " _Now,"_ Naruto's voice came off as a growl, "I promised you I'd make you pay for what you did to Hinata;" He got down on all fours, tail swaying in the breeze, " _It's time I deliver!"_

He vanished.

The genius hadn't a moment to react when Naruto crashed a boiling hot fist in his face; launching the prodigy away with a shockwave that tore up the ground around them.

Neji, through blurry vision and a light head, managed to twist and land on his feet, sandals scraping the dirt. He looked down to see that his feet had left a rake in the ground at least 10 yards long.

A testament to just how hard the so called 'Dead Last' hit him.

Naruto cracked his neck before before phasing out again.

Taking no chances, Neji immediately spun,

" **Kaiten!"**

The Uzumaki crashed into the chakra dome and was knocked away, but recovered quickly with a backflip and landed back on his fours. The blonde took his fist and slammed it into the ground, surging his chakra shrouded arm under the surface of the arena.

A giant red chakra claw burst from the ground beneath Neji, grabbing him tightly and disrupting his jutsu. The Hyuuga gave a silent cry, feeling the hot youki from Naruto's chakra claw sear every inch of his body from the chest down. Had the Uzumaki been just a bit more ruthless, he could've easily made another claw and grabbed Neji's head.

The Jinchuuriki's claw rose completely out of the ground before slinging the Hyuuga into the walls of the arena, sending a rumble throughout the stands.

Hinata watched her cousin get throttled by the boy she'd admired her whole life. Or was that the same boy? Either way, she hadn't felt comfortable watching Neji getting beat within an inch of his life; even if he tried to kill her just a month ago.

After slamming the prodigy into the arena wall for the fourth time, Naruto tossed him away like he was a pebble; letting the Hyuuga genius tumble along the ground.

Neji twitched in pain, his skin pink and raw from the boiling hot chakra that surged from Naruto's body. His hirai-ate had been knocked off, revealing the curse seal that branded the genius as a branch family member. His ribs were near unbearably sore, a few most likely cracked. A thick layer of crimson trailed the side of his face that ran over his right eye, making him close it or risk blinding it.

Despite his battered condition, the genius still grunted and climbed back to his feet; slowly. 'I...I _will not_ lose here. Not to this...failure. Fate will not-'

"It doesn't feel so good, does it?"

Neji looked to the outcast to see that he'd stood calmly, back hunched over and chakra cloak alive and tense, as if it truly were a fox and the Hyuuga was its prey.

Naruto continued, the audience silence allowing his voice to project, "It doesn't feel good having someone who completely outmatches you, smack you around and show you you're no good. Well how do you think Hinata felt?!" He barked. "You tore her apart with your nonsense about _fate,_ and _destiny_. I said it before and I'll say it again, fate, is nothing but a crock of horseshit."

"Really now?! What makes you think you know so much about it, huh?! You think you know what it's like to be branded with something at birth, a _curse_ that makes you the equivalent to a _dog_ in your own home!? _That,_ is what fate has decided for me."

Naruto chuckled and shook his head darkly, "Buddy, you wanna bitch about _curses_ , and being treated like an _animal_ , you're talking to the wrong _fucking_ cowboy." His clawed fingers dug into his palms, making them heal and bleed simultaneously. "From the day I was born I never knew my parents, I've been treated like _shit_ on the bottom of _everyone's_ shoes because of something I didn't have a say in, and I failed the academy _twice_ because I couldn't learn the freaking bunshin jutsu. But you know what, despite all of that, I kept moving forward and _I_ changed things. _You_ use fate as a crutch because you're too weak and too cowardly to make a difference."

The prodigies one open eye twitched as his teeth grit, "How...how dare you!"

"I guess the only way you'll believe me is after I've beaten you. One sec." The Uzumaki pulled out his ninjato, the blade becoming outlined in the jinchuuriki's bubbling youki. He held the tip of the blade up in the air and began twirling it in a circle above his head.

Neji gazed in curiosity before his expression changed to that of disbelief. A purple orb of chakra formed above the Dead Lasts head, growing brighter with each revolution the blade made around it.

As the orb grew to about the size of a basketball, strong winds picked up around the arena, drawing around the purple sphere and sending the spectators hair in a frenzy. Neji ran at the blonde, "Whatever you're trying, I won't let you finish it!"

"Too late!" Naruto shouted, "Say hello to my new technique, **Wind Style: Dragon Twister Jutsu!"** The Dead Last swung his sword at Neji, flinging a compact mini _tornado_ at the prodigy who hadn't the speed to dodge it. The twister roared and ripped a gauge in the ground on its path to the Hyuuga; the teen crying out as he was picked from his feet by the gale and carried by its unbearably strong winds; his head was literally and figuratively spinning until he was smashed into the arena walls for one last time; his body imprinted into its structure.

Naruto stared wide eyed at the aftermath of his technique. 'Damn…' He grinned, 'I owe pervy sage _big_ time.' He watched as Genma went to check Neji's body; the Hyuuga still forced into the wall, arms spread apart as if he were crucified.

No one from the audience made a sound; resulting in the arena's silence.

The proctor felt for Neji's pulse on his neck. After a couple of seconds, he smirked before turning to Naruto, the whiskered teenager taking that as his cue to power down; letting the chakra melt from his body and his features return to normal. "The winner" He started, "…Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd went wild, every person giving the jinchuuriki his much deserved praise. Naruto jumped around in joy, giving a bow to the spectators as medics ran down to the field, scraping the Hyuuga's unconscious body off the wall and onto a stretcher. If one looked closer at his form, they would see that his skin had turned lobster red from the heat of Naruto's chakra, accompanied with various large purple bruises visible around his face, arms, and legs. His torso most likely looked worse.

Bulma, Tavi, Ino, Sakura, and Lee cheered for Naruto's victory. Gai, despite his students failure, gave his rivals student his props. Kiba whooped and hollered for the blondes victory. 'Yeah Naruto!' He shouted.

Hinata blushed heavily and clapped, 'Naruto-kun, congratulations.' The blonde gave her more than one scare during his fight, but like always, he proved that he could find his way around any obstacle. He inspired her in so many ways.

Tenten, who had been rooting for Neji the entire match found herself utterly dumbfounded at his loss.

'Who would've thought that goofy looking kid had that much potential.' Temari thought, 'And that transformation,' She turned back to her red-haired brother, who'd been watching the match with a psychotic glare behind his normally cold and murderous eyes, 'could he and Gaara be…'

The Hokage smiled down at his surrogate-grandson, "That was quite the exciting match." He said the Kazekage.

"Yes it was." The Kazekage agreed, "But I am certain Trunks and Sasuke's matches will be even more exciting."

"I notice you've taken a great interest in the two of them." Hiruzen said humorously.

"I just feel they are some of the best candidates in this tournament." the wind-shadow said innocently.

"Hm, well, they have exactly 30 seconds to arrive. If they are not here, they will not compete at all." Sarutobi said. "29...28...27…"

"Wow, that was a great match." Bulma said.

"Yeah," Tavi agreed, "But where's Trunks?"

"And where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"Didn't I tell you kids earlier," Gai cut in, "If there's one thing Kakashi's good for its coming in at the last second. Just wait."

"5...4...3…" Hiruzen counted. He stood up from his seat as he prepared to address the audience, "2...1"

Naruto heard the rustling of leaves behind him. As he turned, he grinned and the audience gasped. "It's about time you guys showed up." Naruto snickered.

Sasuke, Trunks, and Kakashi stood coolly in the center of the arena. Sasuke's attire remained the same, but his hair had grown longer, reaching about an inch below his chin. Trunks, although his hair remained in the same style; curtained in front of his left eye, his attire was that of a black tank top, with dark blue jeans and blue sandals. His sword remained fastened behind his back.

Kakashi gave an eye smile to the spectators,

"Sorry we're late."

XXX

A/N: And that's that. Sorry for the long wait, life just got the best of me; you know how it is. Anyways, for those of you who are Inuyasha fans, it should be rather obvious what technique _Drago_ n _Twister_ Jutsu is based on; *cough*Gokuryūha*cough* SparkinClark and I agreed it was a fitting technique for Naruto to learn. So, what are your thoughts? Leave them in a review, and trust me, the next update won't take as long as this one haha.

Anyways, till next time!


	22. Sandbox

A/N: Here's to part 2!

Let the Exams Continue!

XXX

Genma gazed at the three new arrivals. Although he knew who they were, protocol required that he identify the two genin, "Your names?"

The ebony haired survivor gazed at the proctor, "Sasuke... _Uchiha_ Sasuke."

The sole surviving saiyan also glared at the ref, "Trunks Briefs."

The audience roared; knowing they would finally get to witness the battles they'd been been waiting for. Even though it couldn't be noticed; Bulma, Ino, Tavi, and TenTen had been the ones cheering the loudest for the half-saiyan.

A relieved smile crossed Hiruzen's face, 'You pulled through Kakashi; and to think you had me worried.'

"It seems Trunks and Sasuke-kun managed to arrive, despite your doubts." The Kazekage said, "It would seem you should have a little more faith in your underlings _."_ He joked, although Hiruzen could pick up a hint of intentness.

Old man Hokage raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that exactly?" He asked.

"Nothing at all." The Kazekage said innocently.

Sasuke's gaze traveled to his opponent who'd been up in the contestant stands. Dosu's eyes locked with the Uchiha's, 'Just my luck, he actually showed up.' The sound nin thought.

Trunks and Naruto walked to the contestant stands as Dosu came down. Temari turned to her brother, growing cold at the hauntingly bloodlusted smile etched across his face as he watched his would-be opponent coming closer to him..

'Gaara…' She thought. To her surprise, the redhead turned and disappeared into the halls of the arena building.

"Hey Trunks, what kinda training you and Kakashi do?" Naruto asked the saiyan as the two boys walked up the staircase; passing Dosu on the way up.

Trunks smirked, "That's a secret. But, you'll see the results during my match with Gaara."

Naruto grinned, "I can't wait-huh?" He flinched as Trunks expression changed,

The saiyan frowned, "I _do_ have an idea of what kind of training you went through."

"You felt the fox, didn't you?" The blondes eyes narrowed.

Trunks nodded, "Yeah, and I gotta say... I'm a little intimidated." He said with a slight chuckle. "You don't think that was a little overboard for Neji?"

One of the Uzumaki's shoulders shrugged, "I mean, _maybe_ I took it a _bit_ too far using the full tail; but that Teme had the beating coming. He tried to kill Hinata and I got tired of his 'fate', this, 'destiny', that, crap. You have to know where I'm coming from."

"I do." Trunks said; the two having made it to the top of their stands. The saiyan decided to change the subject, "Speaking of Hinata, you should probably talk to her more." He said as he leaned on the guardrail.

Naruto's eyebrow raised, "What makes you say that?"

Shrugging, the son of Vegeta said, "I dunno, she seems nice and I think she likes you."

The blonde looked up into the audience stands, noticing Hinata giving him a meek gaze before she shyly turned away. He frowned, "I don't know about that. I think she's scared of me or something. It's like every time I come around her she wants to disappear." He scratched his cheek, "Women are confusing."

Trunks chuckled, "Yeah, I'm with you on that."

XXX

"What took you so long Kakashi?!" Sakura snapped at her jounin as he approached their seating row.

Kakashi cringed and wiggled his finger in his ear, "Would it kill you to use your inside voice Sakura?" He asked. He stood alongside Gai and Lee to observe the upcoming battle. "If you absolutely must know, we just made the most of our training."

"What kind of training did you guys do?" Ino asked.

The Jonin kept his eyes down on the field, "That, is a secret. But the results will speak for themselves."

XXX

Genma stood between the two contestants, "Are you both ready?" He asked.

The surviving Uchiha's hardened eyes echoed his mummified opponents single ebony eye. Both teens stood not more than a meter away from one another; auras displaying a mixture of phlegmatic calm with a killers ethos.

"Yeah." Sasuke said simply.

Dosu's eye narrowed, "..."

"Begin!"

The two teens leaped back from each other. Sasuke threw two kunai that Dosu blocked with his braced forearm. The sound teen's heart skipped a beat as he heard the heavy 'chink' of pierced metal reverberate through his ears. Looking at his arm he saw that the blades not only _pierced_ his brace, but had hissing explosive tags attached to the handles.

'Shit!' Dosu cursed as he ripped out the knives, and with few seconds to spare he threw them back at the Uchiha who looked less than worried.

The tags detonated as the kunai reached mere _inches_ from Sasuke, sending an explosion of fire and a dust raising shockwave through the arena. Dosu shielded his eye from the dirt wave before gazing at the area Sasuke once stood.

The ground contained two smoke and ash filled craters that were easily yards across in length.

But there was no sign of Sasuke within the craters.

"Not even close."

Dosu whipped around to see the Uchiha's back to him.

'He's faster!' Sakura, Naruto, Lee, and Ino thought in awe.

Sasuke landed a brutal right hook into the sound nins jaw, knocking the teen off his feet and sending him skidding across the ground. Dosu's eye widened as Sasuke appeared in the air above him, knee prepped to drive into his torso.

The mummified nin rolled to the side as Sasuke once again vanished; cutting off his aerial descent.

Dosu hopped back to his feet. With a stroke of luck he turned behind him to block a kick to his chest using his metal brace. The force behind the kick made his echo speaker vibrate.

Sasuke hopped up with his opposite foot, using the momentum to knock his heel into the side of Dosu's head. While the Sound nin was dazed, the Uchiha took this as his opportunity to blitz Dosu with a series of punches to his head and chest; before finishing with an elbow to the Oto nins nose.

Searing pain exploded into Dosu's face, accompanied by his vision turning white and sparkly. He could feel his back touch the dirt, and as his vision restored he saw Sasuke standing leg extended from about a yard away.

He was kicked so fast he couldn't even see it.

Lying on the ground, Dosu huffed and puffed, 'He's... too fast. How can this make sense? His curse mark hasn't even been activated, yet he's toying with me just the same as he did in the forest.' Dosu thought. It was then he felt a warmth leak from his nose and into his facial wrappings.

Blood.

'This is getting out of hand, I'll have to-'

"Is that really all you got?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowing at the same time. Dosu noticed his opponents heel set, a sign that the survivor was about to move, "Well then, I guess I'll just finish you!" Sasuke sprinted at the Sound Nin in a blur, a dust trail having picked behind him.

Acting fast, Dosu held up his arm speaker, releasing high frequency sound waves that shot at the Uchiha survivor. There wouldn't be a way for the raven haired teen to dodge this, and when the waves hit, he'd be downed when his eardrums shattered.

A smirk slipped across Sasuke's face. Just as the sound waves reached him, he vanished.

"Impossible!" Dosu exclaimed, "He can move faster than the speed of my sound waves!?" A shadow appeared right below him. As he looked down a foot crashed under Dosu's jaw, lifting him off his feet and into the air.

Lee's eyes widened. 'That taijutsu; it looks just like'

"He copied Lee's taijutsu?!" Gai barked.

"I wouldn't use the word copy, Gai. More like...inspired." Kakashi said.

"But how," Sakura spoke up, "How did Sasuke gain that kind of speed in just a month. He's dodging sound like it's nothing for crying out loud."

Kakashi kept his eye on the battle, "Sasuke copied Lee's taijutsu with his Sharingan. I simply had him mirror Lee's movement during our training. The fact that he's been sparring with Trunks only boosted his potential to heights I wouldn't have imagined."

"How does he compare to Trunks?" Tavi asked.

Kakashi watched as the Uchiha juggled Dosu around in the air, body nothing but a black smear streaking around the Oto nins. "Sasuke has managed to match Trunks in his base using strictly taijutsu. His sharingan, has adapted to the point of matching Trunks as a super saiyan."

Gasps elicited from Sakura, Lee, and Ino.

"Looks like Trunks, Naruto, and Sasuke are all in the same league then." Gai noted.

Lee was in awe. Those three rookies were either on his level or beneath him just a month ago. Now, they've more than surpassed him. It was infuriating, disheartening...amazing.

Gai noticed blood dripping from his protege's balled fists.

Dosu crashed face first into the dirt. The Oto-nin's bandages were stained crimson, his sound speaker was cracked and busted, and he had various bruises littering his body under his clothes.

He twitched for a moment as he prepared to get back to his feet. Before he could do so, a knee crashed down into his back, shattering the right side of his rib cage. Dosu hollered out in pain before blacking out.

Sasuke smirked triumphantly before he stood up over his opponent, "And that's that."

Those in the audience had cringed when Dosu screamed; Choji almost lost his appetite as he thought, 'Man, Sasuke's brutal.'

Genma approached Dosu's unconscious body; he pulled the senbon needle from his mouth as he kneeled down to check the teens pulse.

The man stood up, "Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!"

Roaring and cheers filled the stadium, the loudest that they've been thus far. Sakura had been up and cheering the loudest among the spectators, although her crush wouldn't have noticed it. Or cared for that matter.

Sasuke watched Dosu get carted off before making way towards the audience stands, unlike Naruto and Trunks who'd been in the contestant stands.

The Haruno sat back down in her seat as Sasuke cleared the field, "Wow, Sasuke's so amazing." she sighed, "He made that Sound jerk his plaything."

Tavi shrugged, "Eh, he's pretty good. He still couldn't take Trunks though." she smirked.

"When he comes up here that'll be the _last_ thing you'd wanna say to him." Kakashi said, "Trust me."

'Like I'm scared.' The daughter of Launch thought.

"But she's not lying." Ino told the Jonin, "Trunks would rip Sasuke a new asshole. The guys practically unstoppable."

Kakashi gave the girls a stern glare, "Do you really believe that? I'd have thought that the Academy would have taught you better than that, Ino. There _is no_ such thing as an unbeatable opponent. Every fighter has a weakness to exploit. While Trunks may far outclass Sasuke in the areas of pure strength and _especially_ raw power; he can be outsmarted, his moves predicted. This was something that Sasuke learned during our training. Do not underestimate an Uchiha and their sharingan."

A new pair of approaching footsteps made those within earshot turn around.

It was Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, congratulations on your victory!" Lee gave the teen a thumbs up.

"Yeah, you really let that guy have it!" Sakura said.

The Uchiha shrugged them off, "It was nothing, Dosu was light work. Trunks is gonna face the one I really wanna fight." It was then he turned to Kakashi, "There's going to be a 10 minute intermission before the next fight. Genma wants you to know that."

"Doesn't surprise me." Gai said, "This next bout's gonna be big."

Tavi gazed down to the contestant deck where Naruto, Trunks, and Shikamaru were. Knowing there was going to be a small break, she figured she'd say hi.

"Hey, where ya goin'?" Bulma asked as the teen as she got up from her seat.

"Nowhere special." Tavi said as she walked down the aisles. Ino and Sakura passed her curious glances, watching as the blue haired girl descended down a staircase.

XXX

"I'm just saying, Ero-Sennin's probably the biggest perv you'd ever meet in your life." Naruto said.

"And I'm telling _you_ , that there's no way he's worse than Roshi." Trunks countered.

"Jiraiya-sensei made me transform into a naked woman just so he could have 'inspiration' for one of his stupid novels!"

"And Master Roshi made my mother flash for him just so she could have his stupid Dragonball!"

"Why am I hanging out with you guys?" Shikamaru deadpanned.

It was then the three boys turned to the sound of approaching footsteps, "Hey guys!" Tavi said.

"Hey Tavi." Trunks and Naruto greeted.

Shikamaru glanced at the ribbon bearing girl; having not seen her before he drew one conclusion, "You're the new girl right?"

She nodded.

A voice at the back of Shikamaru's head told him to introduce himself, ask where she was from, and make her feel welcome. But conversation wasn't something he was big on. He already knew her name so it's not like it was important to ask her anything else. At least that was how he saw it.

"So, what'cha guys doin'?" The girl asked.

Trunks leaned back on the rail, "Waiting for my match. Why are you here?"

"Just passin the time." She said casually.

"Where's Sixt- I mean, the 'Big Guy'?" Naruto asked.

Tavi and the Uzumaki immediately noticed Trunks mood drop. Evidenced by him turning away from the two.

'He really needs to get over that.' The Shinhan thought; but to answer Naruto's question, "He likes to go bird watching out in the woods. _Jinzo's_ a huge animal lover."

" _I bet_." She heard Trunks mumble.

A rumbling came from Naruto's stomach. Perfect opportunity to change the subject, "Anyone wanna grab a quick snack." He said with a chuckle and a scratching of the back of his head.

Tavi giggled, "Yeah, I'm in. Trunks, you comin?"

"No." He said. "My match is gonna start soon. I can't risk being late."

Naruto frowned before he turned to the Nara, "Hey Shikamaru, come with us." He said as they began walking into the halls.

Shikamaru sighed before following after the two.

"So, Tavi, how'd I do during my match?" Naruto asked the daughter of Tien; the three teens walking down the hallways of the arena building. Their destination intending to be the snack bar.

"Freakin' awesome!" She exclaimed, "You didn't tell me you could transform into a fox!"

"Hehe, yeah." Naruto blushed and scratched his cheek, "There's a long story behind that thing."

"I think I have time." Shikamaru said; throwing Naruto for a loop.

"Oh, well, uh-"

"Wait you guys!" Tavi stopped and put her arm in front of Naruto, Shikamaru pausing as well. The three stopped just as they were about to turn down a hallway, but, the three teens could hear faint voices coming from within.

It would've been too dark for them to see into, but they were near enough to listen in.

XXX

Gaara stood before two Grass ninja who'd taken it upon themselves to corner him in the dark and secluded hall. Their intentions were to perform a small hustle; unfortunately for them, they had no idea of the monster they'd encountered.

"There's a ton of people betting in these tournaments this year. Including well known Lord's from major villages." One of the Hustlers said; leaning against a wall with shades covering his eyes.

"Yeah," His partner, a man with eyeliner and lipstick voiced slyly, "And millions were being placed on that Briefs kid."

"Which is why this match, you're gonna _lose."_

A demented, toothy smile slowly spread across Gaara's face. The cork to his gourd slid out, and a wave of sand followed through like a hissing cloud of death.

* _squelch*_

 _*splach*_

Naruto, Tavi, and Shikamaru felt the wind leave their bodies and the air drop 30 degrees colder. The chill that went through their spines grew ever more gelid with the _wet_ and _sticky_ sounds of Gaara's feet tapping along the floor, drawing closer and closer to them.

As he turned their corner, he paid them no mind. The three teens wouldn't dare make eye contact with him though, out of fear of getting his attention.

The red haired Genin descended down a nearby staircase.

Tavi began panting, having held her breath out of fear through the whole ordeal, "Oh my god, Trunks has to _fight_ that guy?"

Naruto nodded, having lost his breath as well.

"*pant* Man, *pant*" Shikamaru started, slouching down to his knees, "That was close. Had we been just a little bit early, or if those two weren't there, that could've been us."

Naruto punched his palm, "We have to stop this match. That guy's a monster, Trunks can't take him." The cheers resounding from the audience let the teens know that the match was about to begin. "Come on, let's go!"

XXX

Trunks stood before Gaara, the two Genin standing in the center of the arena. Over 1000 eyes observed the two in earnest, eagerly waiting for their bloody duel to start.

Gaara eyed his prey with a bloodlusted grin; a contrast to the heavily stoic facade he wore when he first encountered Team 7.

The son of Vegeta stood unfazed by the redheads ghastly expression. Where others would have backed down out of fear, he gazed right into the eyes of evil.

"Are you both ready?" Genma asked, standing between the two teens.

"Yes." Trunks said simply; not taking his eyes off his opponent.

"..." Gaara just kept grinning.

XXX

Bulma couldn't take her eyes off of the Suna-shinobi that faced her son. There was something...off, about him. Or, she could have simply been paranoid. That was her son down there, and he was fighting to what could have been his _death_. But her maternal instincts told her to be concerned over something greater than what she perceived.

As excited as Ino was to see Trunks fight, she too couldn't quell her worry. Despite coming off as something of a God, Trunks _could_ be beaten. Kabuto had shown that the prince was still vulnerable like the rest of them during his match, when he shut down Trunks' arm and leg. It was ironic though, this situation could have been a lot worse had Shinhan not come along.

Where was she anyways?

"Kakashi-sensei!" Ino turned to Naruto's cry. She saw that the Uzumaki had been accompanied by Shikamaru and Tavi.

The silver-haired Jonin turned to his student, "Oh, hey Naruto. I heard about your win. Congrats." He strangely disregarded the distressed look on his Genins face.

"Sensei, you have to stop this match, Trunks is in terrible danger!" Naruto exclaimed. Ino and Sakura gasped.

Lee's and Gai's eyes narrowed.

"What?" Bulma mumbled, "Danger?" She knew that Trunks' teammates had an idea of what he was capable of, and for Naruto to say her son was in danger…

Just what kind of threat was this Gaara kid?

"Tsk, bud out Naruto." The Uchiha spurned, surprising everyone except Kakashi. Sasuke's eyes stayed glued to the saiyan in the arena, "If you think that Trunks will go down easy from a guy like that," No one saw it, but there was a hint of a smirk lining Sasuke's face," ...you don't know him at all."

Naruto and Sakura looked to their sensei in confusion; the Jonin passing them an eye smile and a shoulder shrug. He didn't answer them, but the Copy-Ninja thought, 'Naruto, Sakura, you two don't know it, but I told Sasuke about Trunks' past. The two of them have come to an understanding of sorts, and this is why I took both Trunks and Sasuke under my wing. In ways, the three of us are alike.'

He watched as Trunks got into a fighting stance

'We're _survivors._ '

Genma dropped his hand, "Begin!"

Trunks immediately hopped back to gain distance as sand swirled out from Gaara's gourd.

'There goes that sand.' the Demi-Saiyan thought with a smirk. He was fully prepared for this.

The grains lashed out at the Saiyan like a snake after its prey. Trunks noticed quickly that the arm of sand was too slow to strike him, allowing the prince to side step and weave thereby, its movements imitating a whip that Trunks had to duck and dodge away from.

The saiyan dipped down low as the sand whipped past his head, simultaneously getting into a track runners stance and pushing forward. His movements blurry as he moved in and faked a punched towards Gaara's face, only to appear behind the sand genin with a kick aimed to his head; the blow being stopped by a pillar of sand that sprung up to protect its master. While Trunks leg was still connected Gaara's sand latched onto the limb.

Trunks grunted before he slammed his fist onto the sand beginning to constrict his leg, making the grains burst apart and release him.

The second his feet touched the ground he was forced to hop back as a sand spike as tall as him sprung out of the dirt below.

He back-sprung once,

Twice,

Three times as spikes would erupt from each spot he landed on.

As the saiyan landed about 10 yards away he fired a flurry of yellow ki blasts at the suna-nin, only for them to be blocked by the redheads sand.

'Shit, Gaara's sand _can_ block Trunks ki!' Naruto exclaimed in his head. He looked to see that Kakashi and Sasuke were ever so calm. Perhaps they knew something he didn't?

Trunks stood up straight, wiping the dirt from his arms before stretching out his biceps and triceps. He finished off his light stretch by cracking his neck.

The second the Prince prince slipped into his battle stance, his eyes widened as Gaara clutched his head.

His voice was much more deranged and ragged as he spoke, a further sign that his sanity was going down the drain, "Mother, I...I'm so sorry."

Trunks raised an eyebrow.

"I, I've fed you such awful, awful blood." Trunks could see the veins in the Genin's eyes. "But I promise, this time it'll satisfy you."

'Weird…' Trunks thought before he smirked, "You've picked the wrong time to have a mental breakdown, pal." The Saiyan said before he dashed straight for Gaara, blue flame outlined around his body.

The sand Genin viciously threw out a wave of sand that swiped _through_ Trunks body, almost as if the Saiyan were a hologram.

Gaara gasped as the saiyans image faded, and a presence appear behind him. Turning, he was met with a fist to his face, lifting him off his feet and throwing him several yards away.

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed, "What was that Kakashi?!"

Tavi caught a strange sense of deja-vu when she saw it.

"It looked like a Genjutsu." Sakura noticed, "But Trunks can't use Genjutsu can he?"

"It's a technique that Trunks can use." The Jonin in question said, "He moves so fast that he leaves an image of himself behind, and then strikes while his opponents back is turned. He calls it 'After-image Technique'. Even my Sharingan is barely able to track it."

"That's so cool!" Exclaimed Ino.

A clap of thunder brought everyone's attention back to the fight.

Trunks had appeared under Gaara and kicked him up in the back, right below his gourd and sent the suna-Genin high into the air. Flying up after him, Trunks could hear the 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' from children in the audience, who were fascinated by a shinobi being able to fly.

As the prince of saiyans reached Gaara he noticed the sand Genin's face was cracked at the cheeks; expressing damage to the redheads armor.

"I'm gonna rip that armor off," Trunks declared, ' _Piece by piece._ '

Gaara's sand moved as if it had a mind of its own, whipping out at the saiyan who blasted at the grains before hitting the sand genin with a flying tiger kick, knocking him even higher into the air.

In a flash of yellow light, Trunks instantly turned super saiyan.

"No way!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in unison.

Ino desperately looked to see what had riled up the other two, "Wha-what happened?" She asked Sakura.

"It normally takes Trunks almost a minute to transform. Now he can do it instantly!"

Sakura turned to her sensei, "How did you do it Kakashi?"

The Jonin watched as Trunks completely bypassed Gaaras sand shield defenses, turning into a nigh-invisible force that blitzed the sand-ninja, the browless-teens sand armor being obliterated from his body.

Finally he answered, "Twenty-four hours, seven days a week. That's how long Trunks had to hold that form, even in his sleep. Now it's become second nature to him."

'That's pretty much what Pervy Sage had me do.' Naruto thought.

Gaara's face was bruised and he was still airborne. The sand-Jinchuurikis opponent wouldn't allow him to get back down to the ground, and with good reason. The battlefields terrain was sandy, dry, and rocky; which would grant him tons of resources. Although it may not have mattered, ever since his opponent transformed he'd had completely bypassed Gaara's sand defenses, both shield and armor. A flash of yellow appeared above him, fist prepped for another strike.

The sand-Genin held both of his arms out to the side, his sand swirling out to two humanoid shapes beside him. Trunks could see the sand figures begin to take on more detail, until they looked exactly like Gaara.

Sand clones.

Sabaku used his clones as a diversion to free fall, needing to get back to ground level and gain distance from his saiyan opponent.

Trunks pulled out his sword, at the same time the arms of the clones sharpened into swords of their own.

The saiyan flew in hard with a swing that sliced through the clones bladed arm before continuing through the clones neck, getting stuck halfway through. Trunks held his grip on the blades handle, watching as the sand around Gaara's neck clumped back together around the metal, restricting Trunks from pulling back the sword. Sensing an attack from behind, he swung an elbow into the other clones face, obliterating its head and most of its upper body.

Glancing down, the saiyan noticed Gaara nearing the ground. He activated a ki blast at point blank on the remaining clone, freeing his sword.

He quickly held his hand above his head, as if he were forming a destructo disk. Ki took shape above his hand, but not in the form of a disk, but of a ring. He threw the ring that homed in around Gaara before clamping around the Suna-teenager, restricting his arms from any movement.

Gaara could feel the energy ring tighten to the point that it put stress on his rib cage, making it hard for him to even breath.

"Gotcha." Trunks said cockily.

"What technique was that Kakashi?" Ino asked.

"I had Trunks focus on Ki manipulation for a while." Kakashi said, "What he chooses to call that technique, I have no clue."

"What about Galactic Donuts?" Naruto suggested. The blank stares he received from everyone made him squeak, "Or maybe not…"

Trunks' arms streaked wildely before coming out in front of him, thumbs and index fingers touching the opposites, **"BURNING ATTACK!"** The yellow ball of energy shot from the hole in his hands and after Gaara.

The redheads green eyes widened in horror, reflecting the yellow energy that slammed into his stomach, forcing him like a bullet into the ground, followed by a violent yellow explosion that picked up a colossal dust cloud, and a shockwave that made everyone in the audience shield their eyes.

Temari, despite her eyes being closed, cried out for her brother, "GAARA!"

No one said a word as the dust began to settle. As the spectators stared through the haze at the battlefield they could see that 90% of the ground had been pushed _away_ from a deep and smoking crater in the center of the arena.

"Wow…" Ino breathed.

'Man,' Choji thought fearfully, 'Trunks Naruto and Sasuke are unreal.'

The prince of saiyans aura still shined brightly, spiked locks swaying in the wind of his aerborn ascend. He couldn't see Gaara at all within the crater, but he knew that that didn't kill him. Especially since he survived everything Lee put him through.

He lowered himself closer to the crater, feeling for Gaara's life force.

And it was there, pulsing strong.

Actually, it was pulsing _stronger_.

And that evil force that the saiyan felt from Gaara, was _growing._

His super-human hearing could hear Sabaku's voice chanting _something._

" _I'll make you proud mother...I'll destroy him...I'll rip him to pieces...I'll smash his skull and spill his brains. He...will...fear...ME!"_

Trunks immediately charged ki blasts in both of his hands, and rained down hell upon the crater, shaking the coliseum and the entirety of the leaf village; akin to an earthquake.

Baki grunted before shielding his eyes from the rocks flying from the dirt, he turned to Temari, "We can't hold out any longer, this needs to happen _now_!"

It was then Bulma began to feel drowsy, despite the destruction her son was causing right in front of her. The scientists vision turned hazy, before her vision started to dull.

Ino turned to the Briefs woman to see that her eyes were closing. " -..." She started before she too began to fall asleep. Not very many paid attention to it, but dozens of others in the audience began to pass out as well.

Trunks cut off his assault, lowering his steaming hands. The crater that Gaara was in got leveled out along with the rest of the ground. There was still a heavy concentration of dust in the area that Trunks blasted, restricting him from getting a clear look at his opponent. What he was able to make out, was a dark smudge within the cloud.

Gaara.

"Damn." Trunks grunted. His heart then skipped a beat as a clawed _something_ with veinsshot at him from out of the haze. Trunks blasted the giant sand formed claw away, the shockwave sweeping the dust cloud clear from the battlefield.

What Trunks saw was Gaara completely normal, or about as normal as he could look despite being...him. His face was still bruised, but he looked as if he could barely stand. A few strands of sand streamed off of his body for some odd reason.

Trunks mumbled, "...Just what are you?..."

Before the sounds of explosions filled the village.

XXX

A/N: And here I still struggle with fight scenes. Oh well, I tried haha. But the War begins next chapter! Leave me you're completely honest thoughts in a review!


	23. Walls Come Down

A/N: I've gotten questions about how I'm going to balance Android #16 through this story, and trust me, I've already gotten it figured out.

Anyways, the war begins.

XXX

Android #16 stood in the Konoha forests, in an area where there was much wildlife. The sounds of birds softly chirping, and otherwoodland critters squeaking was almost melodic to the gentle giants ears.

The mohawked Android held a chipmunk within his hands, and allowed two birds to sit along his broad shoulders.

The rustling of the trees were defeated by the sounds of thunder booming through the air, startling the birds into flying away.

The Android released the chipmunk he held, letting the rodent flee into the brush before he looked up. The sky was clear as water, not a stormcloud in sight.

So what could that thunderous noise have been?

XXX

Hiruzen and the Kazekage observed the battle between the Saiyan and the sociopathic sand shinobi. The old man, like the rest of the audience, enjoyed being able to see Trunks cut loose and battle it out with another Genin.

He watched as Gaara's sand attack swiped right through Trunks, displaying the Saiyan's 'After-image' technique, a move that surprised even the fire-shadow.

Sarutobi turned to the Kazekage, noticing that the Wind Shadow's eyes held a certain elation behind them that was rather suspicious.

"You're certainly invested in young Trunks-kun, aren't you Kazekage-Dono?"

"I very much am." The Kazekage admitted, "He's certainly the most promising candidate in this tournament, much more so than even Uchiha Sasuke."

"What about Naruto? I don't think you realize the development that boy has gone through these last months."

"He is a _decent_ fighter, but I don't believe he could compare to even Uchiha."

"Hm," the Hokage chuckled, "Come these next few matches, I believe you'll eat those words."

A gale swept through the Hokage box, whipping the two mens robes in a frenzy. Hiruzen saw that Trunks had ascended to Super saiyan and completely bypassed all of Gaara's defenses, practically toying with the sand-Genin.

"That kekkai-genkai is unfamiliar." The Kazekage said, "What is it exactly?"

"It is a form that only Trunks can use. He calls it...Super Saiyan." Hiruzen said, "Even we're still unfamiliar with it. What we do know for certain is that it boosts the boys physical capabilities exponentially, and increases Trunks-kuns power over 50 fold."

"Interesting…" The wind shadow said.

The two men watched as Trunks faced off against Gaara's sand clones, using his sword to slice into one of them.

Sarutobi spoke up again, "One thing that I do enjoy seeing is the thematic differences between Trunks and Naruto-kuns transformations. While Naruto-kun's is monstrous, almost demonic in a sense, Trunks's super saiyan form is...angelic, by comparison."

The Kazekage nodded in agreement. "It is an elegant spectacle to observe."

*KA-BOOOOOOM!*

The Kage box quaked. A wave of dirt and dust sweeping into the Shadow's stands made Hiruzen shield his eyes. Through the haze the two men saw a deep and massive crater in the center of the arena, a crater which Gaara obviously occupied.

Hiruzen braced himself the moment Trunks charged ki blasts in both hands. The Kage stands shook so hard the old man had to hold both arms of his chair as a precaution, just in case it flipped.

'One would think Trunks-kun was trying to bring the entire stadium down on our heads.' Sarutobi thought humorously.

He then got a feeling.

A bad feeling.

Something very terrible was about to happen…

Hiruzen slowly turned his head to see that the Kazekage, was glaring right at him.

XXX

A yellow wave of ki shot from Trunks' hands, blasting away a giant claw of sand that shot at him from within the crater he left Gaara in.

It was weird, that claw of sand had blue veins branching out in an odd pattern around the arm, almost like it belonged to a colossal monster.

'Just what are you?' He thought as he eyed the redhead who was slouching to his knees. The saiyan noticed sand lightly streaming off the other teens body; as if he'd just bathed in it.

XXX

Within the audience stands, an Anbu black op stood behind a pew, the spectators oblivious to his presence. This particular Anbu had just knocked Kiba Inuzuka and his dog, Akamaru, unconscious; just after healing Hinata Hyuuga from a lasting injury she'd received from her cousin.

The shinobi passed glances to other 'black-op' members and ninja-disguised citizens within the audience, receiving nods as confirmation.

The time was now.

The 'Anbu' and other imposter shinobi made hand-signs, and one by one, the spectators slipped into unconsciousness.

Bulma, who'd been watching her son rain down a hellish flurry of ki blasts onto his opponent, began to feel strangely drowsy. She could have been imagining things, but she could've sworn she saw _feathers_ floating down in front of her eyes before she blacked out completely.

Tavi turned to Naruto, who'd become dreary eyed and wearisome as well. "Narut-huh?" She glanced around to see that various other people were falling asleep as well, including Sakura, Ino, Bulma, and even Lee.

"Naruto!" She cried out as the blonde and Shikamaru dropped to the floor unconscious. 'What's going on?!'

Kakashi and Gai traded glances before they gave each other silent nods. They simultaneously made hand seals before saying, "RELEASE!" to dispel the Genjutsu. Kakashi approached Sakura while Gai approached Lee, dispelling the Genjutsu that was placed on the two of them.

The ribbon bearing teenager approached the silver haired Jonin, "Kakashi, what's going on?" She asked as Sakura stirred awake, the pinkette quickly releasing Ino from the Genjutsu as well.

Kakashi kept his back to her, "You're a fighter right?" He asked the blue haired girl.

"Yes." Tavi nodded, already knowing where Kakashi was headed with this.

The Jonin's head turned to her, "Be prepared to do a lot of that in a second."

An explosion could be heard from within the Kage box, before a wave of smoke erupted over the arena and above Trunks.

The saiyan turned from the sand-ninja who was his opponent just a second ago, his attention focusing on the Hokage's box that was now completely obscured thanks to the smokescreen.

Trunks' eyes narrowed, "What the-"

Before a much for volatile sounding explosion filled his ears. This one sounded similar to a bomb. Soon after, he could hear screaming and the sound of clashing metal, and they were coming from beyond the tournament walls.

The village was under attack.

He looked down to Gaara to see that Temari and Baki had come to the redheads aid, Temari putting Gaara's arm around her neck to support him.

"Go!" Baki ordered his student, "Get Gaara out of the walls and into the woods. This invasion depends on his transformation." He said in a low voice.

"But what about Kankuro?" She asked.

"He'll be fine. We've got soldier pills to take care of him. Just focus on your duties right now, he will catch up to you both." Baki gazed up at the Demi-saiyan who frowned down at him, having put two and two together. Baki wasn't sure what he could do against the half-saiyan teenager, but he still pulled out two kunai, " _Go."_ He ordered his pupil who dashed away with her brother.

Trunks leveled a hand at the two fleeing suna-Genin, but before he could fire a ki blast a kunai bounced off of his head. Looking down he saw it was Baki who threw it. Through his peripherals, the demi-saiyan saw four other sand and sound ninja coming in to support Baki.

Glaring dispassionately, the super saiyan fired a ki blast down at the enemy shinobi, forcing the ninja to scatter, although one was incinerated in the yellow detonation of the ki.

A sound Shinobi who'd leapt high into the air to dodge the blast, barely noticed a shadow pass over him. Turning, the the last thing he ever saw was a flash of silver, before he was cut in two.

Trunks landed on the ground, the bisected remains of the shinobi falling right in front of him. The Super Saiyan stood uncaringly as the other enemy ninja leapt at him.

One suna-nin tried to slit the teenagers throat, only for his blade to pass right through the saiyan.

An After-image.

The suna-nin jerked as a bloodied blade stick out of his chest.

Trunks pulled his sword from the sand-shinobi's back and let the nin fall dead. Turning, he saw Baki and the surviving sound nin charging straight for him.

In a blaze of gold light, Trunks met them head on.

The Oto-nin landed a punch on the Saiyan's face, the flicker of confidence the man felt instantly snuffed out when the bones in his fist shattered. He wasn't able to cry out for long when Trunks incinerated him with a ki blast.

Coming in from behind, Baki's kunai came down, right for the teenagers skull. He was stopped when Trunks' left hand intercepted the small knife, the kunai failing to breach the flesh of the saiyans palm. The Super Saiyan wrapped his hand around the blades edge, Baki's hand still wrapped around the handle, and turned to face the older man.

The sand-Jonin knew there was nothing he could do, he saw what Trunks was capable of. He watched as Trunks gave his sword a small twirl, before swinging it up and slicing off the older mans arm.

Baki roared out as he clutched the stump connected to his shoulder. The sudden severing of blood vessels from his body caused him to spit up a mouthful of blood. His vision turned hazy as he watched the Saiyan keep a grip on the kunai that his detached arm was still connected to, his fingers still wrapped around the handle.

Trunks shook Baki's hand loose from the knife, letting the limb fall to the ground. The teen sheathed his sword and began twirling the small black knife around his index finger, smirk ever present on his face.

"You guys _really_ picked a fight with the wrong village. Wanna tell me what for?" Trunks asked.

Baki, still clutching his stump, found himself saying, "It's all our orders. The S-Sand doesn't have a p-personal vendetta against the Leaf, a-as far as I'm concerned."

"Orders huh, figures; who's your leader? Somehow I get the feeling Orochimaru's got something to do with this."

"I haven't a clue." The man ground out.

"Participating in the assault on a village and you don't even know why." One could pick up on a hint of humor laced in Trunks voice. The Super Saiyan held up a Ki charged palm to the Jonin, "Too bad I'm not letting you walk away from that mistake."

XXX

Up in the stands, a kunai stuck into the neck of a sound-ninja, courtesy of Kakashi's throw. The Jonin watched as the enemy-nin spasmed before dropping to the floor. He turned to see Gai laying a beatdown on several ninja who thought they could take him by getting the green beast outnumbered. Hatake pulled another two kunai out of his holsters before clashing them with a sand-shinobi that attempted to sneak up behind him.

Sasuke's fist struck into a Ota-nins throat, right in his Adams apple, bringing the now gagging man down to his knees. The Uchiha finished the man by grabbing him by the back of his head and slamming it into Sasuke's knee, shattering his jaw.

The Uchiha hated having to fight in the stands; with it being such a confined space, including innocent and unconscious people caught in the mix, it meant he couldn't use the majority of his jutsu. He had to settle on beating these attacking ninja with either his fists or a kunai.

" **Leaf Hurricane!"**

" **Wind Style: Air Bullets!"**

Lee roundhouse kicked an Oto-nin into the air, where he was blitzed by Naruto's Air Bullet jutsu, throwing the man over the balcony and onto the arena floor.

"Man, how many of these guys are there?" Naruto asked as he pulled out his ninjato, forcing his chakra into it to use the 'Flying Swallow'.

Kakashi stuck his kunai into the chest of a Sand-ninja, "We're at war Naruto, don't expect a break anytime soon!"

The Jinchuriki's reflexes made him snap to his right to intercept a kunai slash from an Oto-nin, the attackers blade getting sliced in half by the omni-cutting power of Naruto's 'Flying Swallow'. The shinobi wasn't given time to be surprised when Naruto sliced his forearm off and kicked him away.

Sakura and Ino were back to back, kunai in hands in an attempt to hold their own against the waves of enemy ninja attacking through the stands. One of Ino's kunai stuck into the chest of an Oto-nin, a lucky throw on her part.

The two girls gasped as four ninja charged straight for them, too fast for them to dodge and not enough skill to take the men on; and without the interference of the other Leaf-shinobi to help them, they wouldn't make it.

" **KAIOKEN-HA"**

The fighters paused as a ball of red flame flew into the Suna-Oto-ninja, one man getting slammed up into the ceiling, another getting knocked into a stone pillar, and the last two getting knocked _through_ floor, hard enough to fall through five or six other floors on the way down.

The whole thing happened so fast, almost in a literal heartbeat.

The red ball of flaming ki came to a stop right in front of Sakura and Ino, revealing Tavi who'd dropped down to her hands and knees.

'Whoa…' Naruto breathed.

'Not bad.' Kakashi thought, impressed.

'I'm going to marry her one day!' Lee declared passionately.

The Shinhan was panting hard, really hard, her muscles throbbing and quaking like she'd been lifting weights the mass of the earth.

'Ouch, I _really_ shouldn't have done that..' The blue haired girl thought, still not finding the capability to get back on her feet.

"Tavi-chan, what on earth was that?" Gai asked as he and Sakura moved to help the girl.

"That was *pant* my Kaioken ability. It's a technique that doubles my strength, speed, and *pant* power for a split second." Shinhan explained, "I can also *pant* potentially get a even bigger boost by going Kaioken x4, 8, or even 20. But I can't even go past x2 yet."

"That's cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah, until it rips your body apart." Tavi said jokingly. "As you can see my body can't handle the technique, so I try to use it as a last resort."

Gai rubbed his chin, "This kaioken ability sounds almost exactly like our 8 Gates ability."

"I agree." Kakashi said.

Sakura asked the ribbon bearing girl, "Can you still fight?"

"I'll… have alot of issues." Shinhan said, her legs very wobbly.

It was then the group came surrounded by a pack of enemy shinobi, the men circling them from all sides.

"SIXTEEN!" Tavi shouted.

The Oto-Suna nin glanced to each other in confusion before a large figure crashed through the ceiling and landed next to the blue-haired girl, startling Sakura into releasing her. The men were visibly intimidated by the mohawked behemoth who, despite the gentle features expressed on his face, still looked as if he could rip any one of them to pieces.

'Who the hell is that?!' Gai thought, having not seen the man before.

#16 glanced to his ward, "Yes, Tavi-chan?"

The ribbon-bearing girl nodded to the Oto-suna ninja surrounding them, "Bad guys, take'em out."

#16 simply glanced to the surrounding men who instantly pulled out a kunai and sprung into action.

One Oto-nin threw a kunai that bounced off the Androids forehead, while another sound-nin jumped in to attack the Cyborg up close. The Sound-ninja went to stab the Android in the chest, only for it to instantly grab his arm, applying tons of pressure to the limb. The Android slammed its fist into the sound-nins stomach, rupturing the man's insides before throwing him to his comrade, either killing or knocking the other man unconscious.

The Android pulled off its hand, something that surprised Gai, Lee, Sasuke, and the enemy ninja, before the cyborg began gunning the ninja down. With nowhere to hide for cover, the shinobi were bullet riddled corpses lying scattered on the floor in seconds.

Smoke seeped from the barrel of #16's hand-gun, which was covered when the android reattached his disconnected limb.

"That was awesome." Naruto said to Tavi, Ino, and Sakura, the three girls nodding.

The sound of feet touching down to the floor brought everyone's attention to the balcony, where Trunks had landed right in front of the railing. His sword was held out to his side, a small bit of blood lining the blades edge. Proceeding up the steps, the super saiyan form dropped from the teens body, his blonde hair fading to lavender, "Hey everyone. It's good to see you're all okay."

"Likewise." Lee told the half-saiyan.

"It's a good thing you're here Trunks." Kakashi started before turning to the rest of his team, "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura…" His eyes then trailed to Ino, "Ino, the five of you are going on a mission. For my team, this'll be your first A-rank since the Land of Waves."

Sakura and Ino's eyes widened while Sasuke's narrowed. Naruto whooped, "Hell yeah! What is it Kakashi-sensei?"

"I saw Temari take Gaara out of the arena," Kakashi said as he threw a kunai, nailing a Suna-nin in the chest, "I suspect that she'll be taking him out of the village, maybe the woods. I want the five of you to go after them."

Hatake didn't even need to look at Naruto to see that the blonde was grinning ear to ear.

Sakura and Ino visibly paled at that fact. "Why us?" Sakura asked her jonin.

"I genuinely believe that you'd just go after Sasuke, Trunks, and Naruto anyways."

The girls couldn't argue that.

The son of Vegeta looked to his mother, who was still unconscious in her seat, "What about my mom? I can't just leave her."

Gai was the one to speak up, "Trust us Trunks, she's a lot safer _unconscious_ , and with us here she'll be just fine."

"He's right Trunks," Kakashi said, "We'll protect her with our lives."

'You better.' The saiyan thought.

"Do you really think I should stay?" Tavi asked Kakashi.

"Yes, I do. You're barely in any fighting condition at all, and as you know the guy they're going after is out of your league." The scarecrow said.

"I think you should stay too." Trunks said, "I want you to help watch over my mom."

Shinhan nodded, "Fine, I'll just have #16 help me."

That thought didn't sit well with the half-saiyan.

Kakashi turned to the saiyan prince, "Trunks, since I know you can sense Gaara, you'll be leading this mission. Understood? Do not take this task lightly you guys, the _only_ reason I'm putting this burden on you is because I know that Trunks, Naruto, and Sasuke can stand against Gaara."

"We won't let you down Kakashi-sensei." Trunks said as he approached a nearby wall.

"Yeah, you can count on us!" Naruto said.

Trunks held his hand flat as a knife edge, before bringing the tips of his fingers up against the wall. With a simple One-Inch punch, the brick and concrete burst, leaving a gaping hole to the outside.

The village was burning; some of the buildings on fire and crumbling. He could pick out dozens of Leaf Shinobi doing battle with the men who dared attack their home, some coming out victorious while others weren't so successful. The saiyan could've sworn he heard a snake's _hiss_ coming from somewhere within the village.

It must've been _huge_ for him to hear it from where he was at.

He looked behind himself to see that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino were grouped up and prepared to follow him.

"Good luck you guys." Lee said.

Once feeling for Gaara's ki, the saiyan bolted after him, the other genin following after.

XXX

A/N: I'm well aware that this chapter is below my usual length, but I've been busy. Simple as that, and I'm tired of it taking me like 20+ days to give you guys an update, so I made sure I had a few things happen in this chapter to keep you guys satisfied.

Now, in case you're wondering, YES, Trunks DID kill Baki. I figured if Baki fought Trunks and didn't get utterly destroyed, it would be because I didn't have the balls to do it, so I showed I had the balls to do it. Tee-hee.

Also, how does Tavi know Kaioken you may ask? I have a reasonable explanation for that, that will be revealed next update, or update after next haha. Just know that it WILL be explained, because I honestly hate BS power-ups.

Anyways, until next time, stay gold!


	24. Pursuit

A/N: Man it sucks being a senior who's about to graduate, I've had a ton of my time stripped from my hands. Anyways, we continue.

XXX

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood face to face with the man he once called his beloved student. Orochimaru's gaze stayed trained on the man he once called his sensei, satisfied in his underlings task of entrapping both himself and the Fire Shadow within a purple cube shaped barrier, one that was large enough to take up the entire roof of one of the tournament buildings. The Sound Four would have to be thanked later.

Hiruzen, eyes narrowing to the former sannin, silently cursed himself. How could he have been so foolish all those years ago? So _ignorant_ to his students odd behavior. The experiments the pale man conducted on those innocent men and women that went undiscovered until it was too late, the lives that were destroyed by Orochimaru were partly on his hands.

Why?

Because he failed to put the man down like the dog he was.

Orochimaru's head tilted, slyly grinning at the Hokage who'd shed his robes just moments ago, the Fire Shadow now outfitted in his battle attire.

"What's wrong Lord Third, lost for words? Surely you couldn't be _that_ surprised to see me."

Hiruzen took a second to gather his thoughts, so many of them rushing his head before he settled on a simple, "Why?" that one word caused an eyebrow to arise from Orochimaru, "Why attack the Leaf? You have never been one to attack solely on vengeance; you mostly lack any goals or reasons, so why launch a full blown attack such as this?"

"Hm, well, you yourself did use the word _'mostly',"_ The sannin said, "I suppose for this occasion, you could say that I simply enjoy things being in motion." The snake turned his back to the Hokage, gazing out over the burning buildings, battling Shinobi, and casualties that were fast multiplying. He relished in the chaos that he'd caused. "It is rather dull when things are at a standstill, isn't it?"

"You're mad."

"And what is, 'madness', Hokage-sama? Is it truly mental illness, or is it the limitations of wisdom to a perspective that society deems unacceptable? Madness is simply a state of thinking that most cannot comprehend. I, on the other hand, believe that madness is an absolute state of brilliance." a small chuckle came from the sannin, "And if I am anywhere near as mad as I've been labeled, then even the Gods themselves would beg me for a lecture!"

"Perhaps the only reason you're still alive, is because there is not a God who would take you in the afterlife." Sarutobi said bitterly. "You are no longer a man, Orochimaru, you're a _demon_."

The Sannin gave the Hokage a fanged grin before turning to him, arms spread-eagle, "And in my wake, I bring hell." before he charged at Hiruzen.

XXX

Ibiki sat atop a deck that was built atop the Village walls. The deck gave the scarred Jonin a good view of both the forests on one side of the wall, and the buildings within the village on the opposite side. Another Leaf shinobi stood on the deck with him.

"So...what kind of guy is this Orochimaru?" The Chunin asked Ibiki.

The trench-coat wearing Jonin rested his arms on his knees, his bandana-styled hitai-ate helped shadow his eyes a bit, helping his response seem all the darker as he spoke, "He was the thirds disciple, formerly."

"Why did he become a missing nin?" The two ignored the rhythmic 'booms' resounding from within the village.

"A long time ago, back when the Yondaime was being chosen, Orochimaru thought he was the only worthy choice… but Lord Hokage thought differently."

Things started to come together just a little bit better for the shinobi. Ibiki continued, "Soon after, he defected from the village. It's pretty obvious he has a grudge against Lord Third himself, he's just willing to let the rest of the village burn with him."

"Revenge." The shinobi said to himself, "That's typical."

Ibiki's eyes closed. He could see Orochimaru's face just as vividly as if the man were right in front of him, "When I saw him as a child… there was one thing going through my head…" The scarred Jonin could see the Snake Sannins predatory eyes, his serpentine gaze forever haunting him, "That man... wasn't human. It was as if he was a creature wearing a human skin...I was terrified."

The Chunin swallowed, his failed attempt at putting on a brave facade made all the more obvious by the small sheen of sweat that built up on his forehead.

Both Ibiki and the Chunin's heads turned to another shinobi that appeared on the deck, the man having taken a knee to address the tokubetsu-jonin,

"REPORT! Giant Serpents have appeared at the Eastern Entrance! There has also been an approximate count of over _200_ Sand and Sound ninja invading the village!"

Ibiki instantly rose to his feet, "Have all shinobi move out and assume their positions!" He barked, "Get in contact with the commander of the East Gate!"

XXX

Team Trunks had just passed through the village gates, now bounding through the trees on the outside. They'd been about five minutes into their pursuit when Sasuke called out,

"Trunks, how far?"

"I'd say they're about 3 miles ahead of us, but they're really moving so we gotta pick up the p-huh?" The saiyan stopped mid-sentence, looking behind his team.

"What is it Trunks?" Naruto asked.

The saiyan frowned, "We're being followed."

"By who?!" Ino asked.

"There's a squad of 8, no, _9_ ninja coming after us. They've gotta be around Chunin-level or higher."

Naruto grunted, "Damn, we don't have time to take them on. If we stop then that just gives Gaara a greater distance ahead of us."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the smear of brown that the ground appeared as, "Yeah but the last thing we want is to fight _other_ ninja while facing Gaara." His eyes closed, knowing that this decision would be a hard one, "One of us is gonna have to stay behind and handle them."

"Well, it definitely won't be Trunks because he has to lead us to Gaara." Naruto thought out loud. "And I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I think I'd be pretty vital in this coming fight."

"That's right." Trunks said. He turned to Sasuke, "We could use your help too."

"Call me selfish, but there's no way I'm staying back. I have to fight Gaara." The Uchiha said.

Ino and Sakura looked to one another. They knew what needed to be done.

"We'll stay." Sakura said. "Me and Ino can hold them back.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. All three boys turned to look at the girls of their group, "No offense, but you two can't handle a pack of Chunin, you'd be slaughtered."

Ino deadpanned, "We _know_ we're in over our heads, Naruto. But like Sasuke said, the last thing you guys wanna do is fight Gaara with the threat of other shinobi at your throats."

"And," the pinkette said dismally, "Let's face it, we're the weakest link. When it comes down to it there's nothing we could do to assist you guys in the fight. We might as well do what we can here."

None of the three boys knew what to say. If Sakura and Ino stayed behind, they may as well have signed their death-warrants. Even Sasuke, who had been severely annoyed and even _harassed_ by both the girls at a time in his life, couldn't feel right about them staying behind.

'Sakura…' Naruto thought sadly.

"Are you two sure about this?" Trunks asked, the tone of his voice showing that even the prince himself was uncomfortable with the kunoichi's decision. The Saiyan was tempted to have the group stop, just so the five of them could stick together and stand against the enemy.

Then he thought about Kakashi's saying, 'Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' Not only could he be unable to forgive himself for abandoning his friends, but neither could his sensei.

'I...I really don't think we should abandon you guys." Trunks said

The rest of Team 7 knew exactly what he was thinking.

"This isn't abandonment." Ino spoke out, "This is us fulfilling our duties to the mission, and our village. This isn't up for debate anymore. We're staying."

Sakura gave her best friend a satisfied smile. The pinkette couldn't have said it better herself.

Trunks was impressed, as was Sasuke. Naruto still wasn't too keen on letting two of his friends stay back.

The saiyan passed the two girls a warm smile, "I'm proud of you two." Sasuke, despite not being the smiling type, gave the two a small but noticeable smile.

Naruto, burying his feelings, gave the girls a strong grin, "Good luck I believe in you both!"

Blushing strongly, the two girls nodded and stopped on the nearest tree branch, letting the boys continue their trek without them.

Ino watched the boys disappear deeper into the forest. 'Trunks-kun' She couldn't stop picturing the smile the swordsman gave her. He believed in her, and he was someone she could never let down.

"You can't stop thinking about him, can you?" Sakura asked the blonde.

Ino blushed, "Is it that obvious?"

Haruno smiled and nodded, "I think I know you a little too well. But don't worry, we'll get out of this and we'll get back with the boys."

"Boy do I hope so." Ino said as she looked to the opposite end of the forest, the direction which the Sound-nin would emerge. "They'll be here any moment." The Yamanaka said calmly. "Got any bright ideas?"

"Why ya askin' me?" Sakura asked.

"Hm, well, as much as it kills me to admit it, you were always the smarter of us."

Sakura blushed bashfully, "Well, I won't tell you you're _wrong._ " She said playfully before her expression turned thoughtful, "But, I do have an idea…"

XXX

Temari hurtled through the forest, having no doubts that she was being followed.

Her little brother's unconscious form would shudder in her arm, putting her further on edge. There was no telling when Gaara would reawaken, and when he did, there was no telling what state of mind the redhead would be in.

The lack of sunlight in the woods hadn't helped settle her nerves.

'C'mon Kankuro, hurry up.' She thought desperately.

"Temari!" A voice called out to her, catching the teen completely off guard.

Turning to her left, she saw it was Kankuro who bounded in from the brush.

"Took you long enough." She grunted, despite her relief. As her sibling drew closer to her, she winced at his face, his skin covered in bumps and bite marks. Shino messed him up, badly.

The two came to a stop, standing on a branch dozens of feet above the forest floor.

"Did you know you were being followed?" Kankuro asked, taking Gaara from his sister, holding the sociopath over his shoulder.

"I suspected it." She said as she put her ear to the branch. The faint, percussive sound of feet tapping against wood became audible, "They're getting close."

Standing up, Temari pulled out a set of thread, using her teeth to stretch it out.

"What are you doing?"

"I think I can buy us a little more time." The Sand-kunoichi also pulled out a bundle of explosive tags.

XXX

The three boys of Team 7 picked up their pace, quickly realizing that without Sakura or Ino, there were no restrictions to how fast they could move.

Trunks stayed just a few feet ahead of the rest of his team, silently cursing as he briefly felt a third energy join up near Temari's.

"Kankuro…" He mumbled, audibly enough for Sasuke and Naruto to hear.

Sasuke was the first to notice how much darker the forest got, Trunks and Naruto noticing seconds after. The Uchiha knew that there would be some sort of trap laid for them, so when Trunks foot landed on a trip wire, he cursed himself.

"TRUNKS, NARUTO, LOOK OU-"

*BOOM!*

An explosion erupted right beneath Trunks feet, the shockwave throwing Naruto back and towards Sasuke. Before Uchiha could move to catch his friend, the detonation of the first tag caused a chain reaction that activated 4 other tags in the area, both throwing Sasuke from his branch and Naruto towards the forest floor.

Trunks was caught right in the middle of all four bombs, his form disappearing within the flames and smoke.

Sasuke, after having fallen 30 feet down, managed to land safely on a branch. Uzumaki, despite his disorientation, realized he was plummeting towards the forest floor and pulled a kunai, jamming the blade into the bark of the nearest tree. The knife pierced deep enough to allow the handle to support his weight. After applying chakra to his feet, the Uzumaki ran up the tree and onto the nearest branch.

Grunting, the jinchuuriki looked around for his team. The limited amount of light made the task somewhat daunting.

"Sasuke! Trunks!" Naruto called out.

"I'm here Naruto."

The whiskered teenager's blue eyes darted to Sasuke, his friend kneeled down on his branch overlooking Naruto.

"You alright?" The blonde called up.

"I'm fine. Where's Trunks?"

A thud could be heard from some yards away, making both boys hop to the ground in search of their teammate.

The bit of light that filtered to the ground aided both boys in their search, before Naruto spotted the half-saiyan lying flat on his face in a pile of leaves, shirt tattered and pants singed.

As Sasuke and Naruto approached him, the saiyan grunted, "Well that hurt." voice slightly muffled from the leaves near his mouth.

"Hmph," The Uchiha snickered with a smirk, "you took _five_ bombs to the face and hit the ground. All you've got to say is, 'that hurt'?" He and Naruto grabbed the saiyan by his arms and lifted him to his feet.

Trunks dusted the dirt and soot from his arms and hands, "Well, I guess I should also say sorry for getting us into that."

Naruto shrugged, "It's cool, if you didn't set off that trap I probably would've."

Trunks chuckled before rolling his shoulders. Normally an explosion like that wouldn't phase him, but caught off guard, he definitely felt that.

Sasuke frowned, "We don't have time for this. We gotta move."

"Got it." Trunks said. The saiyan felt for the sand-siblings life force, before springing into the trees, the other boys following suit.

XXX

"Well look what we have here." An Oto-nin said as he and his squad landed on the ground, zero-ing in on Sakura who stood alone in the woods. All color bled from the pink-haired girls face as she took steps away from the men, "Now if I'm not mistaken, I'd say that you are, or _were_ , the diversion your team left behind."

Hesitantly, Sakura nodded, "Y-yeah, and you have me completely outnumbered." She closed her eyes, "I wouldn't stand a chance against you all in a fight."

"Heh, well at least you admit it." The nin said as he pulled out a kunai knife.

"But before you kill me, I have to know, what's so important about Gaara, what makes him your Ace?" Sakura asked. She noticed the Sound nins were mostly grouped up in a small huddle, which she was hoping for.

"Well, if you haven't figured it out, that Gaara kid ain't exactly normal. Short answer, he's a monster, and the host to an even bigger monster at the likes you've never seen; Shukaku, the One-Tailed beast."

Sakura gasped, "O-One Tailed Beast?"

"Yup, I believe Konoha had their own experience with a tailed beast in the past; the Nine Tails? Ichibi may not be as powerful, but he's just as vicious, and _easily_ capable of turning this village into a wasteland of rubble, and _corpses_."

That thought scared the teen, she'd heard the stories of the Kyuubi's attack on the village those 13 years back. If the Ichibi was anything like that, then they _had_ to stop Gaara, as soon as possible.

Sakura then noticed an Oto-nin within the center of the group shudder for a split second, his shoulders slouching and his head tilting down, before he stood up straight, almost as if nothing happened. It was out of the ordinary, but it seemed as if the other nin on his squad were too focused on her to notice.

"So," the leader nin said as he gave his kunai a small twirl, "I think you should be glad you've got a cute face, otherwise I wouldn't be wasting my time with you." He prepared his throw, "Any last words?"

The center Oto-nin passed Sakura a small glance, his head giving a small nod being all the confirmation the pink-haired girl needed.

Ino's mind transfer worked.

Inwardly, Sakura grinned, but she kept up her frightened damsel facade, "A-Actually, there i-is, _one_ thing I have to say…" a confident smirk crossed her features, "Don't screw with Leaf kunoichi's."

Two kunai appeared in the controlled Sound-nins hands, before stabbing into the necks of both men to either side of him.

"The hell!?" The leader gasped in surprise. Through the shock that one of their own would turn against them, the other nin didn't attack instantly.

With this distraction, Sakura pulled her own two kunai and threw them into two bushes, one on either side of the clearing. A snap came from the bushes that went on deaf ears, a flurry of shuriken flying out at the Sound-nin.

Ino, still in the body of one Sound-nin, leaped into the air having already known the plan.

One unlucky Oto-nin received three stars, one piercing his skull, his neck, and his shoulder, killing him instantly.

Another nin received a star to his eye, both blinding him and putting him through an immense level of pain.

Three stars stuck to a shinobi's back, killing him, and another shinobi had a shuriken slice through his left thigh, right at the Achilles tendon, rendering that leg useless.

Ino ran up the length of a tree, luckily finding another set of two kunai within her 'hosts' pouch, before throwing them at a set of paper bombs attached midway up an opposite standing tree.

In a medium sized explosion of fire, woodchips, and sawdust, the tree was blasted in half, its top half falling over the Oto-nin, who, while some were able to leap out of its path, the rest were crushed by the massive rod of timber.

The impact caused the ground to quake, knocking Sakura off balance. The teen noticed three nin escape unscathed, while the two injured shinobi disappeared under the trees girth.

Eight shinobi showed up, five died. The girls were still outnumbered by one.

Sakura's neck whiplashed violently as a vice grabbed her throat, and before she could even realize she was grabbed, she was slammed hard into a tree trunk, the bark splitting apart at the force of impact.

The girl could see her reflection through the Oto-nins headband, the man's face only inches away from her own due to holding her up a foot off the ground.

"Sakura!" Ino called out. Before she could move her host, she felt a presence appear on the branch next to her.

All lights went out as the Sound-nin elbowed her in the side of her head, knocking her from the tree's limb and sending her plummeting to the ground. Had the blonde been in her normal body, the fall may have killed her.

Yamanaka lie on her back, the leafy tops of trees swirling in her vision. A foot came down on her neck, hard, both cutting off her oxygen and damn near crushing her trachea and adam's apple. The teen struggled to move the older mans foot from her throat, and she wasn't in the position to switch back to her own body.

The crunching of leaves told her that the third nin was approaching.

"Shit, to think some leaf Genin could take out five of my men." The Sound-nin said to his comrade.

"They caught us by surprise, that's all." The Oto-nin told his leader. He applied more pressure to Ino's throat. "What's up with this guy? He under Genjutsu or somethin?"

"It's likely. But it doesn't matter now." The leader pulled out a kunai, "He's become a liability."

Ino's eyes trailed to Sakura, and noticed the man holding her up also pulled out a kunai. As a last ditch effort, Ino dipped her hand into her weapons pouch, hoping to find a blade or _something_ she could stab into her attacker's leg to release herself. To her horror, there was nothing.

They were screwed.

Face turning blue from lack of oxygen, Ino couldn't help but think about her life and all of the things she hadn't gotten to accomplish. Maybe the saying was true, you really do see your life flashing before your eyes. She thought about her friendship with Sakura, and how she let something as petty as a boy break their bond for so long. Had they not fought during the Preliminaries, would they have ever become friends again? Probably, but why dwell on it. She then thought back on her Shinobi career. Her father was a respected jonin within the village, how would he feel if he learned his only daughter died in battle as just a Genin? What would the other boys on her team think? She may not have been too fond of Choji's eating habits, or Shikamaru's slacker ways, but her teammates became something of an extended family of sorts. She loved them.

Speaking of love, her thoughts drifted to that of another boy, a teenager with who'm she'd grew fond of since her days at the Academy. His lavender hair was unlike anything she's seen before, his hardened ocean-blue eyes showed that he'd lived a life full of struggle and hardship, also shown through his chiseled figure. He was sweet, gentle, yet perfectly capable of ruthlessness, more so than most other genin she knew. Another testament to the sort of life he'd lived in his world. She'd only gotten bits and pieces of what he'd experienced; no father, terrorised by two monsters, and a dead master. Even from the times she'd seen him alone, before she'd learned of his origins, she could tell that he was...bothered by something. She could see it in his eyes, and now that she'd known why, it had made her wanna hug him, comfort him, and show him that he wouldn't have a reason to be hurt anymore. But it appears that would never be.

As her eyes closed, all she could envision was that warm smile the saiyan gave to her before they parted ways.

*Slash* *Slush*

Ino's eyes snapped back open as she felt the immense pressure of the Oto-nins foot practically vanish. Looking up at the nin, she noticed they'd gone completely still, almost statue-like. The leader nin dropped his kunai that landed right next to the teens head.

The kunoichi gasped as both the Sound-nins heads fell from their shoulders, blood shooting out from the stumps like a geiser.

The remaining Sound-nin that bound Sakura turned to see what the commotion was, and when he saw who, the two of them gasped.

Asuma stood in the clearing, cigarette in mouth complimenting his confident gaze in his eyes. The weapons he used to kill the enemy nin contained not a speck of blood on them. His chakra blades, custom made trench knives that he wielded the 'Flying Swallow' through, just like Naruto, were slipped through his knuckles, the right fist held blade up, left fist held blade down.

Ino immediately switched back to her own body, which she kept hidden behind a set of bushes some distance away.

The blonde stumbled out, her throat unbelievably sore, and a bit of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth due to the blow the Sound-nin dealt to her hosts face, the damage syncing with her own body.

"A-Asuma-sensei?" Ino forced herself to ask, not believing her luck.

Despite still being held by the throat, Sakura gazed at the leaf jounin in awe, before it hit her; Trunks said there were _nine_ in pursuit of their team, and only eight showed up.

Asuma was the ninth ninja.

"Put the girl down." The jounin ordered icily, cigarette flicking up and down between his lips.

The Oto-nin grunted before whipping Sakura out in front of him, left arm wrapped tight around her neck and right hand holding a kunai near her throat.

"Coward." Asuma grumbled.

Ino herself growled, what man would use a young girl as a hostage just to save his own ass?

"Quit bullshitting yourself." Asuma said simply. "You won't kill the girl."

Sakura could feel a slight tremble in the Oto-nins arm, a sign that he was intimidated. If only his voice showed it, "You sure about that?"

Asuma smirked, "Being a Jounin, you'd better believe I've dealt with hostage situations before. The thing is, it's only a fear tactic for the enemy to escape, because you know that if you ran, you'd die quickly; and if you killed Sakura" his expression darkened, "I'd kill you _slowly._ "

The man's arm grew tighter around Sakura, before shoving her-no-practically _throwing_ her at the jounin. Asuma's trained reflexes allowed him the reaction time to see things at a slower pace. He could see from the instant the Sound-nin threw Sakura, he made a dive for the left in an attempt to flee.

With a flicker of his arm, Sarutobi's trench-knife shot from his hand and at the Oto-nin. The enemy nin noticed the twinkle of the blade from his peripherals, but it was too late.

Like a bullet the knife shot through the mans skull and out the other side, sticking deep into a tree some meters away.

Ino grabbed Sakura before she hit the ground.

The Jounin removed the butt of his cigarette from his mouth, and flicked it at the recently deceased Sound-nins corpse. He turned to the unconscious nin that Ino possessed, and stuck his knife into the man's throat.

The blonde and her friend approached Asuma,

"Thank you Asuma-Sensei, you saved us." Ino said with a strain in her voice.

Sarutobi lit another cigarette, "Don't mention it. But where's your team? I'm surprised they left you two behind."

"We chose to stay." Sakura said, "We had to provide a distraction for Trunks, Naruto, and Sasuke. We were willing to die to do it."

"And you've both done a great job." The man said as he walked to retrieve his other knife, pulling it from the bark of the tree, "But I'll take over from here, you two just catch up with your team."

The girls nodded, following after their teammates.

XXX

At the edge of the village walls a trio of gargantuan serpents wreaked havoc. Gray, skyscraper length snakes that focused on both consuming leaf shinobi, and barreling through any buildings that blocked their path proved too much for Konoha's army to handle.

Ibiki stood atop a roof with a squadron of nine Chunin behind him. "Attack!" He ordered.

In unison, the men and women chanted, **"Fire-Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"** A burst of flame erupted from each of their gullets and spewed out at the serpents.

Two of the snakes were hit, the scales on parts of their bodies charring and and falling off. In a roar like hiss, one of the serpents slammed its body down on the building its attackers stood upon, crushing two men while the rest escaped, some leaping to the sides and others into the air

A Chunin gazed to Ibiki, the two men having ascended high into the air, "Ibiki-san, what do we-"

* _ **Ronch**_ *

To the scarred Jonin's horror, the Chunin was snatched out of the sky by one of the snakes, disappearing within the serpent's gray and ghastly maw. Ibiki and the surviving Chunin watched the hapless shinobi's form, which was a bulge in the snake's length, slide further down the giants throat.

Ibiki landed atop a roof, same with the other leaf ninja at various other points. The men and women watched as the three serpents rose up, literally towering over the soldiers and bearing down on them, yellow eyes shining hungrily. The Jonin's eyes narrowed, all possible odds were stacked against them. He alone didn't possess a technique capable of bringing down even one of the monsters, and neither did his remaining chunin. The man definitely wasn't the type to back down from any opponent, but he knew that victory was out of his grasp, and retreat was not an option. Through his peripherals he could see the black streaks of Konoha shinobi fighting it out with Sound and Sand. One leaf ninja took three shuriken to the chest, snuffing his life.

Good man. Dying in defense of his village.

'Just like I will.' Ibiki and the surviving Chunin, in a state of unison, once more formed the signs for the Dragon Flame Jutsu.

The serpents maws opened wide, and as the snakes leaned back in preparation of a strike, an eruption of white smoke appeared behind them, the explosion obscuring the snakes from the Leaf soldiers vision. Ibiki assumed it was an enemy tactic, until the snakes gave out an eardrum shattering screech.

A wave of blood splashed through the smokescreen and onto the roof, just in front of Ibiki and the leaf shinobi.

"The hell…" The jounin mumbled before a jolly holler echoed through the air.

"YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAWWWW!"

The smoke began to clear, revealing a colossal, reddish tan toad, whose figure was even larger than that of the snakes. Strangely, the toad donned a large blue happi vest, and more oddly, a massive dosu blade at his hip. Weirdest of all, a large pipe protruded from the toads mouth, meaning the reptile smoked.

The remains of the three snakes lay scattered beneath the toad, lower bodies crushed and heads decapitated.

The source of the cowboyish holler revealed itself; a man with long white hair standing triumphantly above the toads head; arms crossed and oversized scroll strapped low to his back.

Ibiki smirked, 'Jiraiya and Gamabunta.'

The toad sage glanced down at the bewildered Leaf soldiers, and smirked

' _It's that sort of reaction that makes being a hero all worthwhile.'_

XXX

Kakashi, Lee, Gai, #16, and Tavi continued to clean house within the stands. Avoiding the comatosed audience member proved the only challenge for the Leaf fighters, although Tavi had a much harder time than her allies. These shinobi were _nothing_ like the raiders and marauders she grew up defending herself against, they were faster, stronger, and potentially _smarter_ than she was. If it wasn't for the others backing her up she would've been royally screwed.

The teen began racking her brain, thinking back on the warrior journals her father had left for her. Launch had always told her that her father must have known he wouldn't live long enough to raise her. So he'd left her techniques such as the Kaioken, Dodon Ray, and Tri-Beam; the latter which she couldn't even use, either because of a lack of energy, or because she didn't have a _third fricken eye_. But even if she _was_ capable of using the technique, she wouldn't. Tien warned incessantly that the Tri-beam would put the users life at extreme risk. Why bother?

She noticed Lee kick a Suna nin into the air,

" **Dodon Ray!"** A thin yellow beam of energy fired from her finger and pierced the nins chest.

Lee passed her an approving smile as he landed.

She found herself smiling back.

XXX

"End of the line."

Temari and Kankuro came to a halt, the puppeteer still holding his little brother. The sand siblings turned to the speaker, accepting the fact that the three Leaf shinobi pursuing them had successfully caught up.

Trunks stood in the center, Naruto and Sasuke to either side of him. A family of nine branches separated the two factions at around 10 yards.

The Suna siblings frowned, knowing their luck couldn't possibly get any worse. The puppet master could feel Gaara quivering heavily in his arms, but what bothered the older teen more was the light jolts that came from the redhead's chest.

He was chuckling.

"So," The Sand Jinchuuriki said as he stood up, back turned to the Leaf genin and shrugging off his brother's assistance. Temari took a few steps away from her little brother out of fear, "You fools finally made it." The teen slowly turned to the boys of Team 7, revealing the left side of his face that'd been warped and deformed. His teeth had sharpened to that of a predator's, his left eye was that of the golden star Trunks had seen just hours before during the tournament, the whites turned black. A build-up of sand molded around the left half of the suna-jinchuuriki's head, taking the shape of a bear or similar animals ear and facial structure. His human skin remained cracked and flaky.

All in all, Gaara looked nightmarish.

Kankuro looked back and forth nervously between his little brother and the leaf shinobi, "Gaara," he whispered, "Don't forget the objective of our mission. We can't waste time with these guys."

Gaara wheezed hungrily at the three boys who opposed him "No, my _prey_ won't get away."

His voice sounded...different.

"My prey, _won't_ get away." His normal bloodshot eye snapped open wide as he chanted, "My prey, won't get away! MY PREY!" Sand from Gaaras gourd poured out and clumped around his arm, caking and molding into a vicious claw that was easily as large as Gaara himself.

Naruto, Trunks, and Sasuke watched unfazed as the sand-jinchuuriki transformed, tail sprouting at his rear signaling Kankuro into grabbing his sister and clearing out from his brother.

The redhead laughed maniacally as sand continued to mold around his body, even spreading to his feet in the form of talons.

Trunks shrugged, "You're scary," he pulled his sword and narrowed his eyes, "fought _scarier."_

Naruto cracked his neck and formed two clones, "Whoever takes Gaara out first gets bragging rights."

Sasuke rolled his shoulders before entering a fighting stance, "Fine by me." he smirked "Why not make a game out of it?"

"I beat him once." Trunks said, sporting his father's smirk, "I'll beat him again."

"You mock me at your peril." Gaara's voice sounded almost completely different. It sounded bombastic, like the ramblings of a drunken psychopath, "I'll douse this forest in your blood and make _skin's_ from your corpses!"

"Yeah, whatever." Naruto dismissed before the boys charged into battle.

XXX

A/N: GRADUATION OVER! Sorry for the long wait you guys, but I had to tie the knot on my final months to high school, and now enter the world as a true member of society. Anyways, enough about me, the battle with Gaara commences next chapter, and the upload time will definitely not be another 2 and a half months. Till next time!


	25. Sandstorm

A/N: "Kept you waiting huh?"

DAMN, it's been a long time. I'll get right into the fic since I know you guys don't care about my personal life.

XXX

Hiruzen's staff of Enma clashed against Orochimaru's Kusanagi, the Fire shadow's diamond hard staff barely resisting the Snake Sannins superior blade. Sarutobi knew that the monkey inhabiting the staff would have some very harsh words for the old man when he reverted back to normal.

Two hairy hands sprung from the staff, gripping Orochimaru's throat in a suffocating vice. The Snake Sannin's mouth opened in a silent gag, before his skin turned brown and melted. The Sannins form turning to a pile of clay.

A slight vibration from the staff prompted Hiruzen to release it, the Adamantine staff turning back to the Monkey it originated from. Enma stood a full head and shoulders taller than Sarutobi, with a body covered in white fur that protrudes from his sleeves and pants. Long and unkempt white hair reached down his back, while his face sported long white sideburns and a goatee. Showing himself a defender of Konoha, Enma bared a Leaf Hitai-ate.

"Damn you Hiruzen," Enma growled, rubbing his arm as a means of tending to the nasty bruise he'd formed under his robes and mesh, "You knew that would hurt."

"My sincerest apologies Enma-san, but I cannot afford to die...not yet."

Both eyes shot to the puddle of clay that was once Orochimaru, the Hokage and his Summon bracing as the clay reformed into the grinning Sannin. Orochimaru wasted no time in leaping back as Hiruzen went through handsigns and Enma lunged at him.

Orochimaru knew he couldn't take Enma in hand to hand combat, so at the same time Hiruzen finished his final hand-sign, Orochimaru finished his, " **Striking Shadow Snakes!"** The Sannin hissed as six snakes shot from his sleeves and instantly burrowed into the tiled roof, still connected to the sannins arms.

The Monkey summons suddenly halted as four scaley binds restricted his legs, while two more sprung out to tightly shackle his forearms. The sannins mouth opened wide as another much larger snake coiled from his maw, fangs bared and dripping with poison.

Orochimaru took the lack of fear in Enma's facial features as his cue to turn around, and to his shock, he was beholden to a mud sculpture of a dragon's head, mouth agape and formed right over the tiled roof in front of Hiruzen.

" **Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"** The Hokage thundered as mud balls fired from the dragon's mouth. At the same time, Sarutobi formed another set of hand seals, this time for a fire release jutsu. Hiruzen spewed a stream of fire from his mouth that enveloped the mud balls, turning the projectiles into flaming pieces of stone that bombarded the Snake Sannin; who instantly released his snake equipped grip on Enma. As an added bonus, the Hokage allowed the dragon head to swamp the Sannin with mud as the jutsu dispersed. Orochimaru's screams filled the ears of Hiruzen, Enma, the Sound Four, and the spectating Anbu from outside of the barrier as his form disappeared from within the flames and tide of mud.

As the dirt sludge subsided, the Sannins body was nowhere to be found.

"Kukukuku, sensei you old cheat." All eyes went up to a higher platform on the roof tops structure. The sannin stood on the railing as casually as if he'd been there for several minutes. Was Hiruzen fighting a clone this entire time, or was the Sannin truly that fast? Orochimaru continued, "Poor old me is all alone," he said in mocking despair, "and two on one just isn't fair." As he said this, two coffins rose out of the ground to either side of him.

'Coffins?' Hiruzen, Enma, and the Anbu thought. It wasn't beyond Orochimaru to use _zombies_ in a fight. But who could he have summoned for reanimation?

The Thirds hands began to form signs, prepared to attack Orochimaru before he could finish his jutsu. But as the coffin lids opened, and he got a good look at who was on the inside, the breath was stolen from his body.

XXX

"Hey Trunks, Sasuke, check this out!" Naruto hailed as he hit Gaara with a jaw shattering uppercut, the sand-warped redhead getting launched high into the air from the branch he and the boys stood on. A Naruto clone grabbed the Sand-Jinchuriki by his ankles, swinging and driving Gaara down 40 yards into the forest floor before dispersing.

The real Naruto finished off his attack by running up a nearby tree, leaping off, and plummeting down on the sand-jinchuuriki with an elbow drop, making Gaara howl out.

Sasuke and Trunks snickered as Naruto hopped off Gaara, dusted himself off, and gave a bow for his performance.

The three teens had been at this for about fifteen minutes, toying with Gaara and treating the fight with him like it was a game.

The instant the fight started, Kankuro grabbed his sister and dragged her out of the crossfire.

As the beat down ensued, Temari's heart ached for her youngest brother, while Kankuro was a lot less sympathetic. Sure Gaara was family, but the little psycho had threatened to kill him and his sister more times than he cared to count. Maybe this beatdown was a long time coming.

Gaara snarled furiously as he hopped to his feet, sand claw raised to swipe at Naruto. Before he could attack, Sasuke was under his legs, sweeping his left leg from under him and disrupting his balance. Trunks dropped down from above, slamming an elbow onto the top of the redheads cranium, driving Gaara's face into the ground, where it bounced off the hardened dirt. Trunks finished his attack by getting Gaara in a headlock, jumping forward, and sitting as he forced Gaaras jaw to hit the floor, dazing the sand-jinchuuriki.

"Whoa, I never seen that before!" Naruto exclaimed, Sasuke silently concurring, "What do you call that?"

Trunks got to his feet and dusted himself off, smirking as he did, "That, was called the Bulldog. Something I saw in some old wrestling videos from back home." He kicked Gaara in the ribs, sending him into a tree, shattering the bark.

Temari roughly grabbed Kankuro's shoulder, "We're helping him! _Now!_ " She practically roared in his ear.

He complied, mostly because it was the mission to protect Gaara.

Temari's mind worked like a super-computer when it came to battle; in a span of almost milli-seconds, she was able to think of multiple different scenarios that could be used to tackle the three juggernauts in front of them. She deduced that _any_ direct approach from Kankuro would be suicide. His attacks with the Crow weren't fast enough and if the three boys saw any of their attacks coming, they'd paste Temari and Kankuro before the two had time to scream 'Oh shit.'. So, Temari knew she'd have to make the first direct attack. Then the sand-kunoichi noticed the three weren't paying them any noticeable attention, but as shinobi they had to be aware of the other sand-siblings. On the off-chance that the leaf-genin neglected Kankuro and her in _any_ way, she had to know which boy to go after first. Naruto, from what she saw, had his distance attacks, but he preferred getting in his opponent's face and hitting them. Something she could handle slightly easier than Kankuro could. Trunks on the other hand, was the opposite. He was a skilled fighter hand to hand and with his sword, but his preference was for hammering his opponents with ki blasts, either in the air or on the ground. Which led to another issue...he could fly. Sasuke, unlike Naruto and Trunks, was more of jack-of-all-trades. He could easily switch from hand-to-hand combat to a distance attack with one of his fireballs with no noticeable shift in effort.

Temari's teal eyes narrowed as she pulled out two kunai and two explosive tags.

"You got a plan?" Kankuro whispered. His sister attached a tag to the handle of one of the kunai and tossed it to him.

"I'm gonna get them airborne, that'll be our best bet since only Trunks can fly." She removed her fan.

Kankuro looked at the kunai in his hand, finally piecing together the last pieces of Temari's plan himself, 'And since the other two can't fly, that means they'd be sitting ducks for these.' he thought.

"Aim for the trees, not their bodies." Temari said, watching as Trunks pulled out his sword, undoubtedly getting ready to behead her little brother the second he approached him, "I don't wanna risk them dodging the knives outright and screwing up our attack altogether, we're better off using the blast of the tags while they're surprised." Her heart raced as the three leaf Genin took steps closer to Gaara. "Got it!?"

"Got it." Kankuro confirmed, beginning to unravel the Crow.

XXX

Naruto turned to Trunks, "Just so we're clear on something, I'm _letting_ you have the killing shot."

"Oh really, is that a fact?" Trunks asked with a smirk.

Naruto nodded nonchalantly, "Hell yeah. I mean, why not let you add him to your growing list of brutal murders. You missed out on Zabuza."

"Fair enough." Trunks said. He turned to Sasuke, "Any objections?"

The Uchiha shrugged, "No, let's just get this over wi-"

" **Kamaitchi no Jutsu!"**

An extremely violent wind tore through the forest floor and towards the leaf genin, coming from some voice of origin. "Move!" Sasuke shouted.

The three boys had the reflexes to immediately hop high into the air, but almost like the wind had a mind of its own, it swept up and caught them in a funnel of winds sharper than any sword.

Deep cuts opened up on their arms, legs, and backs. Out of instinct they used their arms to shield their faces, although Naruto caught a nasty gash on his cheek. A scream tore from Sasuke's throat, having felt the muscles in his left Achilles tendon tear cleanly apart. The palm of Trunk's left hand was sliced open.

As the winds died down, Trunks heard a familiar hiss coming from the branches above him. And the familiar smell of burning paper caught his nose.

His eyes widened, "Oh shit shit shit, not agai-!"

 ***Ka-Boom!***

A brutal shockwave sent the boys plummeting back into the ground, luckily saving them from the fire and heat of the bombs.

Trunks managed to get to one knee, panting as he did. He may have been more durable than a full blooded human being, being able to stop almost any normal sword or blade with his bare skin; but wind was different. It was literally capable of being sharper than _any_ sword. Which meant Temari was capable of mortally wounding even him. He looked at his bloodied and wounded hand, feeling lucky that it wasn't severed in half. It would need stitches though. He wouldn't be able to make a fist with this hand, much less fire a potent ki blast.

He was at a handicap.

Naruto and Sasuke nearly blacked out from the impact, struggling to get to their knees at all, "Dammit," Sasuke grunted, "wh-who the hell did that?" He clamped down hard on the back of his calf, which was bleeding profusely. The injury to his tendon may just take him out of this fight completely. He didn't wanna admit that though.

"T...Temari, that bitch." Naruto forced out, his wounds stinging everywhere he'd caught them. He was tough enough to fight through the pain, but he was really upset that they forget all about her, and practically _allowed_ her to catch them in a surprise attack. Her and Kankuro were obviously smart enough to attack from out of sight.

Trunks turned to Sasuke, noticing the Uchiha's leg injury, "Be honest, can you move?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say yes, but couldn't.

*Click click click*

The three boys eyes lit up, Sasuke being the one to see a shadow loom over Trunks.

"TRUNKS, MOVE!"

The saiyan prince immediately leaped forward, a blade sticking into the dirt where he stood. He turned his head to see that Karasu, Kankuro's puppet, was on the attack. It charged straight for him.

"Trunks!" Naruto called out, preparing to help him. Only, the instant he got to his feet,

"YOU'RE MINE!"

The blond was sent careening through the forest by Gaara's sand formed claw. The oversized appendage shattering three of his ribs on impact. By Kami's grace he wasn't impaled with any of the claws sharp points. Not yet finished with Naruto, Gaara snatched up the blonde genin with his claw and forced him through the trunks of the surrounding trees, intent on punishing him just as much as the blonde and his friends did to him. And then some.

Trunks weaved away from a thrust of the Crows wrist blade aimed for his face. He sucked in his stomach, avoiding a slash that tore the fabric on his tank. He retaliated by snapping a hard kick to the puppets wooden frame, snapping off one of its four arms and cracking the wood around its torso.

Turns out the puppet held together quite well, because it managed to soar back and hold its arms out towards Trunks.

The demi-saiyan wouldn't turn super saiyan against a puppet of all things, but facing off against Gaara in the exams, and dealing with Kakashi's last minute early morning exercise sucked him of some the energy he'd need in this war. And he still had Gaara to deal with. When he saw the puppet leap away from him after kicking it, he considered charging at it, but when it took aim with its arms the young saiyan braced himself by blocking.

Two paper covered orbs shot out of holes in the puppets hands, detonating to either side of Trunks. A blinding screen of smoke enveloped him, making him break into a fit of coughs upon inhalation. He couldn't see anywhere around him, which meant the Crow could pop up anywhere.

*Click click click*

He quickly turned behind him.

Nothing.

*Click click*

He turned to the left.

Nothing.

He flared his ki, blowing away the smoke. He expected to see the puppet either in front of him, or to the side of him, but no luck. Behind him, still nothing.

The floating saiyan glanced to the forest floor below him to search for his enemy, but still couldn't see it. And for obvious reasons, he couldn't sense it.

As a green leaf floated down into the corner of his vision, his blue eyes shot up to see Karasu free falling towards him. The distance between them was less than three meters, too short for a ki blast. The Crows wrist blade was already poised to be rammed in the saiyans face, so Trunks raised his arms to block.

The son of Vegeta bit back a yell, feeling the blade sink into an already opened wound on his right forearm, courtesy of Temari's earlier wind attack.

Taking advantage of the close range, Trunks used his left hand to hold the marionette still, before firing a ki blast at point-blank. Disintegrating the Crow.

Taking heavy breaths, the saiyan pulled out the blade that was stuck in his forearm. The blade was still attached to the Crows arm, the only thing left of the puppet. He inwardly grinned, knowing Kankuro had to be furious knowing his beloved puppet was destroyed.

He held onto the wooden limb, intent on stabbing the puppet master with his own knife when he found him.

When the saiyan began to search for Kankuro, knowing he had to be nearby, he could feel a strange tingle coming from within' a wound on his forearm; the same wound that Karasu's blade sunk into. He quirked an eyebrow at it, before an electric jolt of pain flared up and down the limb. He cried out and dropped Karasu's arm, letting it fall to the ground below him, and grabbed his arm tightly with his free hand. It felt as if someone was continuously pouring boiling water over his arm.

He suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, followed by the edges of his vision blurring.

Something...was seriously wrong.

He slowly lowered himself back to the ground as best he could, dropping to his knees when he was about a half meter above the ground. His breathing was now strained, but he looked at the knife that he was stabbed with, leaning in close with his worsening eyesight.

At the top, Trunks saw blood on the knife, his blood. But, as his eyes trailed towards the exit cavity of the wrist, he saw a clear liquid that dripped from it and onto the grass, sizzling against the green blades as it did. That same liquid was coated on the knife.

It was poison.

XXX

Naruto held his shattered ribcage, dodging a flurry of sand formed shuriken flung at him from Gaara. The blonde and the sand jinchuuriki were up in the trees, Naruto managing to get released from Gaara's previous grip on him. A shuriken sliced against the whiskered jinchuuriki's thigh, making him grunt loudly.

"AHAHAHA, ARE YOU HURTING YET!?" Gaara cackled maniacally.

The use of one arm meant Naruto couldn't cast the Shadow Clone Jutsu or the Air Bullet Jutsu. He was completely on the defensive and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

XXX

Sasuke looked to the fight between Naruto and Gaara, having lost sight of Trunks when Karasu attacked. He couldn't stand, which meant he was more powerless than Naruto was against Gaara right now.

His thoughts drifted back to his childhood, when he'd just returned to the Uchiha compound from a day at the Academy. Vivid memories of the helplessness he felt staring at his parents freshly slain corpses, and Itachi standing hauntingly over the bodies began to flash through his retina like some sort of sick slideshow.

'No,' the Uchiha thought, 'there is... something I can use.' His sharingan activated, though, unknown to him, the cursed seal began to slowly break through the seal Kakashi placed over it, an effect of the desperation he was feeling.

This was a technique he could only use twice within' a 24 hour period; and, to be honest, he wanted to save it for Trunks and Naruto during the Chunin exams, despite how lethal it was. Kakashi did him a pretty big favor by passing this move onto him during their training session. He brought his hands together in a short series of handsigns before dropping his left hand in front of him. As chakra built up into his hand, the intensity whipping his hair into a frenzy, a spark of electricity flared into his palm; accompanied by the sound of chirping birds.

Naruto kicked Gaara in the face, hard enough to knock one of the readheads sharp teeth out his mouth.

Gaara retaliated by smacking the blonde with his tail, only when he did, said blonde turned into a wooden log that shattered into a hundred splinters.

A sword stabbed through the right side of Gaara's chest, Naruto's use of the flying swallow allowing his ninjato to pierce through the sand covering Gaara's body.

Blood spit from the sand Jinchuuriki's mouth, before his head turned to the blonde behind him, "Substitution, you actually use that elementary technique."

Naruto wheezed, blood trailing down the left side of his face, making him close his eye or risk being blinded, "Heh, jokes on you. You actually _fell_ for an elementary level technique." The chirping of what sounded like a thousand birds began to rapidly resound in his ears.

Naruto released the hilt to his blade and jumped away, leaving it stuck in Gaara. The redhead turned in horror to the sound of the chirping.

" **CHIDORI!"**

Sasuke's attack tore through the left side of Gaara's body, mostly destroying his sand formed arm and grazing the flesh of his ribcage, searing the flesh. Sasuke landed on a branch parallel to Gaara's, falling to his knees. His Sharingan activated eyes glared at the sand Jinchuuriki to take in his work.

A deep gash was ripped into Gaara's right bicep, allowing a steady stream of blood to poor from the wound and down his arm, dripping from his fingers and onto the bark covered wood he stood upon.

'Shit!' Sasuke cursed in his head, 'I missed his heart when he turned to face me. Since I had to make a jump, I couldn't move as fast as I needed to.'

Naruto stood on the side of a tree, having applied chakra to his feet to run up it to overlook the aftermath of Sasuke's attack.

Almost immediately after losing his arm, Gaara began to undergo another transformation; his sand spread onto now both his arms and his head and face was now completely covered in sand and shaped like a raccoon. Actually, all-in-all, Gaara was now an 8 foot tall raccoon with a tuft of red hair on its head.

A chill ran down Sasuke's spine as Gaara's black and gold eyes stared right at him. "Just what are you?"

The raccoon looked to the left and right, as if he didn't know who Sasuke was talking to, "Who, me?" Its voice was high pitched, instead of the deep and sullen tone that belonged to Gaara, "My name is Shukaku, but" A predatory grin spread across its features, "you my friend can also call me, the Ichibi."

Naruto's eyes widened, "I-Ichibi…" he whispered, 'That means one tail...which means he's...he's…'

Shukaku continued, "Thanks for awakening me though. You have no idea what it's like being trapped inside a kid who's that much of a downer. Sure he has my bloodlust, but he's so goddamned emo it makes me wanna rip my hair out. He could at least crack a joke every once in awhile, jeez." He shook his head. "But I think I'll show my gratitude by granting you both a semi-slow yet _very_ painful death."

XXX

Temari and Kankuro, from the forest floor, watched in horror as Gaara completely gave into the demon inside of him. They wouldn't dare show themselves to him, lest they risk the Shukaku making them victims of his rampage as well.

Kankuro had to ignore the immense amount of heartbreak he felt after seeing his beloved Karasu turned into nothing but ash and very few wood slivers just moments ago. He turned to his sister, "We should move, before he sees us."

When they turned around they were greeted with the sight of a limping demi-saiyan, sword loosely in hand, whom now had sickly pale skin and darkened rings around his eyes. He was drenched in sweat that soaked his tank top, and to top it all off, it sounded as if he had trouble breathing.

"That *huff* was *huff*, a really cheap shot." Trunks said, arm still clutched around his still poison affected wound.

Temari's eyes narrowed, "Hm, I'm surprised the poison hasn't killed you. How the hell are you still alive?"

A weak smile made its way onto Trunks' face, "You really *huff* think I'd go down from *huff* a bit of poison? You should have *huff* made a stronger dosage."

Kankuro took a step back as Temari pulled out her fan,

"Yeah, well, whatever the dosage, I can tell you're now too weak to pose much of a threat." She said.

Trunks tightened his grip on his sword as best he could, not willing to back down.

As Temari prepared to open her fan, her eyes widened and she shuddered, before her head dropped and her body went still.

Trunks raised an eyebrow in question, as did Kankuro in worry.

"T...Temari?..." The puppet master said before his said sister came back to, seemingly normal. She turned to face him, "Are you all righ-"

*WHACK!*

Trunks eyes widened in shock as Temari cracked Kankuro in the face with the hard part of her oversized fan, sending him head first into a tree 6 yards away; knocking him out cold.

The Suna-kunoichi then shuddered again before going still again. When she came back to, Temari gasped, as if she had no idea what the hell just happened, "K-Kankuro?! H-how did, why the hell!?"

*WHAM!*

Her world went black.

XXX

Shukaku held his clawed hand towards Sasuke, the Uchiha suddenly becoming helplessly encased in sand.

"Prepare for your funeral," the Tanuki said viciously, " **SAND BURI-"**

*chink*

Shukaku felt something pierce its palm, a light hissing following after. The tanuki looked at its hand and frowned.

A kunai knife, and attached to it… was a paper bomb.

"Who the fu-"

*KA-BOOOOM*

The bomb went off right in the Ichibi's face, disrupting the jutsu and causing the sand to release Sasuke, who at the same time was blown off the tree limb by the shockwave. The sole-surviving Uchiha was sent hurtling toward the forest floor at a fast pace. When he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain that would come from impact if the height didn't kill him, the ebony haired genin felt two arms wrap around his torso and guide him to the closest branch. It was a rough landing, but he was safe.

The smell of strawberries hit Sasuke's nose, a smell that was slightly tainted by the scent of sweat, blood, and dirt. He immediately looked to the person that saved him.

"S..Sakura…"

XXX

"Ino…" Trunks breathed.

The blond leaf kunoichi had jumped from a branch and dropped an elbow on top of Temari's head, effectively knocking her out cold.

The son of Vegeta smirked, "That was...impressive."

Rubbing a quickly forming bruise on her elbow, the platinum blonde tried her best to not blush, but failed. Hard. She could probably give Hinata a run for her money right about now.

As she turned to face him she said, "You really think s-" Before she gasped at his ghastly condition. "Oh my god, you look like shit!"

The saiyan gave a weak smile, "Thanks, I feel like shit."

Ino didn't mean for it come off that mean, but she quickly grabbed the saiyan by his free hand and led him to a nearby tree, forcing the boy to sit down. She noticed the saiyans right forearm was slightly purple due to how tightly he held onto the limb to stop bloodflow. The Yamanaka looked at the wound inflicted on the saiyans arm, seeing the blood crusted and coagulated on the surface. A small bit of puss dribbled out from the wound as well.

"Uh, I'm no doctor," Ino started, feeling slightly sick just looking at the saiyans injury, "but I'm gonna guess you got poisoned?" She knew her answer, she just had to hear it from the teen in question.

Smirking, Trunks said, "You hit the nail on the head." He gave a weak laugh.

"You sure know how to find humor in bad situations." Ino sighed before looking closer at the place the toxin entered his bloodstream, "That's a lot of poison." She saw a bit of it still dripping from where it entered the lavender haired teens body. She used the tip of her finger to catch a small bit of the toxic liquid. She brought her finger up a few inches away from her nose to catch a whiff of the vile liquid. "Pieris." She said.

The demi-saiyan raised an eyebrow, "You know poisons?" He asked.

Ino gave him a small smile, "I know _plant_ based poisons, silly. And _this,_ is from a pieris flower." Her expression became a bit more serious, "They're actually some of the most toxic plants you could make a poison from; so it's a miracle you haven't died from the amount that was put in you."

The hybrid had his saiyan blood to thank for that, "Well, we know what it is _exactly_ , now how do we get it out of me?"

Ino paused for a moment, "You got a kunai?"

The saiyan already didn't like where this was going. He pulled out the kunai that once belonged to Baki and handed it to her.

"You cut off the circulation pretty well, but I'm gonna have to make a tourniquet." Her blue eyes traveled to his tank top, eyeing the fabric.

Trunks, knowing exactly where she was looking, gave her a nod of approval.

Trying her best to stay...professional, for lack of better word, Ino cut off a large chunk of fabric from her crushes muscle shirt, leaving his bare abs exposed while she tied off the tourniquet.

Ino checked how tight she constricted blood flow in the saiyans arm, satisfied that it was just tight enough to prevent more toxin from entering the saiyan princes body, "Alright, thats done. Now," Her eyes narrowed as she gripped the kunai, "to get this crap out of your arm, I'm gonna have to cut around the wound to let it drain, and then" she pulled out a needle and thread from her tool pouch, "stitch the wound."

More color bled from the saiyan teens face, "Something tells me I should just walk back into the village and see a doctor."

Ino shrugged, "You can _try_ , but something tells me you can't fly right now, and if you go into the village on foot you're gonna get gangbanged by a pack of enemy ninja."

The son of Vegeta thought for a moment, then closed his eyes in defeat, "I'm counting on you Ino."

The girl nodded before putting her fingers to the saiyans cheek, making him look at her, "Please don't hate me for this… but this is gonna hurt."

XXX

Sasuke was almost at a loss for words, "Sakura, how did… we left you-"

The pinkette gave her crush a small smile, "You...didn't think we'd make it did you?"

Sasuke wasn't going to answer that.

"We almost didn't." Sakura said bashfully. "Asuma came in and helped us." Her green eyes teared up, though she kept a smile on her face, "It's hard sometimes, I think about you, Trunks, and Naruto; how you guys are so far ahead of me." Her face became downcast, "It sometimes makes me question my wor-"

The Uchihas hand came up to silence the pinkette, "Sakura, you might have just saved my life. You're a decent kunoichi." Sakura's face turned a similar color to her hair. "Than-" Sasuke seemed to struggle with getting the next word out, "nevermind." he gave up.

The effort was good enough for Sakura, "You're welcome."

An angry growl stole their attention. The smoke left by the paper bomb thinned out from around Shukakus form, revealing the damage the bomb had done to it. Its entire right hand was gone, and its face a melted and deformed mess with teeth.

"Thack...wasn'th…" It said, words slurred from its ruined mouth, which quickly began to put itself back together with sand, "VERY NICE!"

It leaped at the two genin of Team 7, at a speed that was barely a blur even through Sasuke's sharingan. Sasuke put his arm in front of Sakura, prepared to either shield her or push her away. With no time to form a jutsu, he closed his eyes.

The crack of bone against bone followed by a suffocating warmth in the air made Sasuke open his eyes, what he saw was Naruto's fist colliding with Shukaku's cheek, the Jinchuuriki covered in his red chakra cloak.

Sasuke flinched at the force the blonde punched the Ichibi, the blow being hard enough to send the sand-demon through four trees and implant him into a fifth trees bark.

This being the first he'd seen of Naruto's transformation, Sasuke felt a wave of different emotions slam into him; horror; because that cloak was shaped just like a fox, with pointed ears, claws where Naruto's hands were, and a tail sprouting from the back...just what was he?; awe; because that cloak managed to heal practically _every_ injury the blonde gained from Gaara; stunned; because of the raw speed and power Sasuke could tell he possessed; and...most notably...jealousy. Trunks had always been someone that Sasuke felt he needed to compete against, and he was fine with that. Over the past month, he knew that matching Trunks in raw strength, speed, and power wouldn't be possible, that was absolute. So he made sure to focus on adapting his sharingan to suit a battle with the saiyan, which he successfully did. His sharingan could practically see every move Trunks made before the saiyan could make it, and to stack that accomplishment on top of his ingenious battle intellect, the raven haired genin felt that he could really compete with the saiyan; though, a thought at the back of his mind kept nagging at him, telling him that to simply be on Trunks playing field wasn't enough. He had to be better, far better. It was the only way to beat Itachi.

But now there was Naruto, who'd been nothing but a loser and a failure for the entirety of the time Sasuke had known him at the academy, and over the six months that he'd been on a team with the knucklehead, Sasuke noticed Naruto's potential skyrocket to monumental lengths, lengths that, Sasuke admitted, could have put the blonde at Sasuke's level or above.

Neither of which was acceptable to him.

Sasuke's fingers dug into his thigh.

Naruto landed on a branch on all fours, the heat of his cloak burning its bark. His red slitted eyes reflected Shukaku across from him.

Ichibi shook his head to clear the lightness it felt, before his gold starred eyes lit up upon seeing Naruto, "Kurama, brother!" Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's eyes widened, "You're in _that_ brat!? I should've known." Shukaku grinned excitedly, "I'm gonna enjoy this, not only do I get to destroy a village, but I also get to kill my asshole brother at the same time!" He pointed at the whiskered outcast.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as his tail whipped aggressively, "You aren't destroying _anything_ you big fuckin' _rat_!"

The two winked out.

A clash of thunder brought Sasuke and Sakura's attention to the forest floor beneath them, Naruto's leg colliding with the Shukaku's forearm, the force of Naruto's blow bursting apart some of the sand grains that made up the limb. Shukaku swiped his clawed hand at the blonde who, as he leaped away, was caught with the tips of Shukaku's fingers leaving three cuts across Naruto's chest, wounds that instantly healed.

As he leaped back to gain distance, Naruto made handseals for a jutsu he used all too often, " **Wind style: Air Bul-"**

"Oh no you don't, " **Wind Style: Air Bullets!"** Shukaku mirrored Naruto.

The two fired their jutsu simultaneously, the bullets of air colliding with other bullets that resulted in a combined explosion that produced a typhoon wind effect on the forest floor, peeling bark off of trees, ripping leaves off of branches, and nearly throwing Sasuke and Sakura from the branch they stood upon.

A youki shrouded fist crashed into Shukaku's jaw, knocking two of his sand-formed teeth from his mouth before Naruto followed up with a roundhouse kick to the side of its head, sending the demon tearing through a pile of shrubbery.

Naruto extended his chakra claw to Shukaku, who slammed his own sand claw into Naruto's. When Naruto sprang forth his other clawed hand, Shukaku again stopped it with his own. Naruto tried pushing against Shukaku, who's sand formed arms were physically strong enough to match Naruto's red chakra arms.

The force at which the two were pushing created a crater around them with a circumference of almost 20 yards.

Almost roaring in anger, Naruto unwillingly began forming another tail, which gave him a surge of power that allowed him to push Shukaku back….for only a few seconds.

The blonde jinchuuriki felt his skin become unbearably hot, as if the cloak was cooking him alive. The immense pain he was under allowed Ichibi to push him back, the raccoon beginning to close the distance with Naruto. "Better say your prayers blondie!" Shukaku said as he neared the whiskered teenager.

A scythe of ki suddenly sliced off Shukaku's arms, cleanly, allowing Naruto the chance to drop his chakra cloak and kick Shukaku in the chin, knocking the Ichibi's head up. The sound of another scythe of ki cutting through the air whistled through Shukaku's mind. Through his ears he could tell it was aimed for his head. The sand-raccoon leaned to the side to dodge, although a hair too slow as the scythe clipped off its ear and part of its head.

Naruto, skin now red and raw, turned angrily to the saiyan standing to the right of him, "Where the hell have you been for the last half-hour?!"

Sword held to his side, Trunks turned to his friend, "Sorry, had a little dilemma." He said with an embarrassed smile.

XXX

Sasuke and Sakura, whose eyes had been glued to the situation below, didn't notice when Ino hopped up to their tree with a surprise "Boo!"

An act that _almost_ got her throat slit by Sasuke.

"Where the hell have you been, Ino?" Sakura asked in annoyance, "What took you so long?" She noticed part of Yamanaka's skirt had been torn off, and that same piece tied around Trunks forearm.

"Trunks got hurt, I helped him. Now shut up and let me watch." She told Sakura.

XXX

" _You…"_ Shukaku shook in fury. "THERE'S NO WAY, I'M GOING TO LOSE TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" He roared, earth shaking under Trunks and Naruto's feet. It felt like an earthquake.

The saiyan contemplated attacking the sand-spirit, but, the rumbling under his feet told him that something bad was gonna happen.

"Naruto, grab Sakura and Sasuke. We need to move, right now!" The saiyan ordered.

The blonde took one more glance at Shukaku, who was quivering uncontrollably, before he took Trunks' advice.

The two flashed into the tree where Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino were; Trunks grabbing Ino as Naruto grabbed the rest of his teammates. The second he did, sand burst everywhere from Shukaku, simultaneously clumping together and rising like an oil geyser into the air. The sand began to retake Shukaku's form, from what was once an 8 foot tall sand raccoon, to a colossal sand-raccoon that was just as tall as the skyscrapers Trunks was used to back home.

All five of the teens broke out into a cold sweat.

"...that things big." Sakura mumbled as she visibly paled. Naruto's arm was wrapped around her waist and his other arm was wrapped around Sasuke's neck. Almost choking the Uchiha survivor. Shukaku began to stretch his arms, relishing in the fact that he hadn't gotten to play at this size in over thirteen years.

Trunks, who was holding Ino bridal style, gulped when he stared up at the behemoth of a sand-monster. "Yeah." he agreed.

XXX

" **Chidori!"** Hatake's lighting shrouded hand tore through a sound-nin's chest, snuffing out the mans life. He pulled his bloodied hand from the enemy nins chest before turning to Lee, Gai, Kurenai, Tavi, #16, and a slew of other Leaf shinobi and Anbu that had rallied with them. The battle had taken them to the tops of the arena building.

"Is that all of them?" Kurenai asked as she looked around, minor cuts and bruises littering her skin.

"I would think so," Gai started, gazing amongst the dead bodies that surrounded them. "The arena's secure, so there's no point in staying."

"And the civilians should all be in the shelters by now," Kakashi said, "which means we can focus on pushing back the attackers."

Gai grinned, "We begin the counterattack." He slammed his fist into his palm, "It's about time we take the fight to those bastards." Lee shared his idols grin.

The sharingan user started issuing out orders, "Kurenai, you take them and head to the east." 'Them' being the Anbu that had gathered to join their little battalion, "Gai, Lee, the two of you should join Ibiki at the west, I have faith that he's still alive." The silver haired Jonin looked to the north, the sight of explosions reflecting off his mismatched irises, "I know where I'm headed."

"What about me Kakashi?" Tavi asked as she approached the scarecrow.

The Jonin turned to the younger girl, "You've had enough. You'll stay here and watch Bulma-chan. The android can protect you both."

Despite knowing the older man was right, she still attempted a defiant, "But I can still-"

" _No you can't_." Kakashi said firmly, "I can tell your muscles are about to tear apart. You've done enough for this village and I'm thankful for that. I won't let you die because you don't know when to quit." His voice hardened, "If you defy me on this, I'll tell Trunks you left his mother unguarded, do I make myself clear?"

"...crystal." Shinhan said in defeat.

The daughter of Tien turned to walk away when Gai stopped her, "Shin-chan,

'I'm getting nicknames now?' The daughter of Tien thought.

"you have a lot of spirit." The green beast complemented, "And you have a ton of fighting potential."

"Thanks." She said genuinely.

"I wanna know, who trained you?" Gai asked.

"Trunks's sensei taught me the basics of ki, and a hermit named Roshi taught me the basics of martial arts. For everything else, my father taught me. Not in person though, he left behind a journal with most of his techniques for me... before he died."

Gai tapped his chin, thinking, "What if I offered you a deal, after this is all over, you join my team,"

'Oh God,' the teen grimaced.

"And I will personally train you." Gai said.

Tavi raised an eyebrow, "How could you train me? You don't use ki."

"But your kaioken ability works almost exactly like Lee and I's eight gates ability. If you become a member of my team, I'll help you improve upon that technique. Deal?"

The daughter of Launch pondered the idea. Gai and Lee were annoying, but she really didn't have any other way to improve on the kaioken. She could put up with their nonsense if it meant she could get stronger, "Deal!"

XXX

The Ichibi's golden eye stared down at the leaf genin, the teens now nothing but insects from his perspective, "I see you!"

Not giving this monster the chance to attack, Trunks set Ino down before flashing into Super Saiyan, rocketing up to the sand raccoon in a blaze of gold light.

A flurry of ki blasts shot from the saiyans hands that detonated on Shukaku's face and body, leaving craters in the sand spirits form. The Tanuki swiped at Trunks with its massive claws, having the same visual effect as a human swiping at a fly, bee, or wasp.

"Stand still so I can hit ya!" Shukaku said desperately as Trunks maneuvered around its hand and fired another flurry of ki blasts at its face. The grains that burst apart from the sand-demons form hailed over the forest like snow.

Ki charged into the saiyans sword, **"Lightning Sword Slash!"** He swung the scythes of ki down at Shukaku, who put his arm up to block. The blades of ki were thin enough to slice cleanly through the sand-spirit, which was a bad thing. Because it healed almost immediately.

Trunks ascended another 30 miles higher into the sky, allowing him to soar high above the Ichibi. The saiyan could just barely make out a shape poking out of the top of Shukaku's head. "Is that...Gaara?" He mumbled. He charged ki blasts in his hands, concentrating them so the detonation wouldn't reach his friends on the forest floor.

Ichibi sucked in a mouthful of air, so much so that its belly distended, " **Futon: Renkudan!"** The tanuki spit out a flurry of air spheres, ones that were at least 100x the size of Naruto's. Trunks fired off his ki blast volley, his spheres of energy strategically hitting the huge spheres of wind and creating a series of explosions that was akin to fireworks over the forest.

XXX

"Damn!" Sasuke cursed, "Trunks can maneuver around that thing all he wants and hammer it with ki blasts all day, but Shukaku just puts itself back together."

"Yeah," Naruto said, eyes glued to the battle, "we'll need to get something Shukaku's size and fight him that way." He grinned, "You guys get back. I got this." Naruto bit his thumb to draw blood, before going through several handsigns, 'Let's do this' **"SUMMONING JUTSU!"**

An explosion trembled through the forest, drawing the attention of the airborne saiyan and Shukaku. Trunks's emerald eyes widened in disbelief.

A massive pipe-smoking toad, just as tall as the Ichibi himself, sat leisurely in the center of the forest. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, staring down the sand-spirit across from him. The toad was dressed with bandages wrapped around his midsection, a black happi vest that was tailored to suit its massive body, a massive sword sheathed under the garment was noticeable by the hilt that stuck out from the side of the coat in place. A scar ran down his left eye, a memento of his battle with the Kyuubi thirteen years ago. On the back of his vest, the toad bore the kanji for shrimp.

This, was Gamabunta, the Chief Toad of Mount Myōboku.

Breathtaken, Ino breathed, "Naruto...did that?" Sasuke and Sakura were just as awestruck.

Naruto stood triumphantly atop the toads head, arms crossed and radiating an aura of utmost confidence.

If Shukaku was intimidated, he didn't show it.

Gamabunta's yellow eyes went up to his head, and upon seeing who had summoned him, he ground, "What the? Not you again. What is this?"

The red amphibian looked across from him, seeing Shukaku staring him down, tail swinging side to side. "Ah, Shukaku the Sand-Spirit."

"Naruto!" Trunks got the blonde's attention as he landed on the toads head next to him. "When the hell did you learn to do this?"

" _This,"_ Naruto spread his arms out wide, "is what you get when you train with a sannin. And _this_ guy," the blonde jabbed a thumb down at Gamabunta, "is gonna help us take down that sand-bastard!"

"The hell I am." Gamabunta said flatly.

"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What makes you think I'm gonna screw up _my_ day picking a fight with a guy like him." Gamabunta removed his pipe and knocked the ash out of it, "I have better things to do."

'So much for that.' Trunks thought.

Naruto threw a tantrum on top of the toads head as it turned around, "Oh come on! You already said you'd make me you're henchman, where's you're sense of duty?!"

Gamabunta nodded as he began to plod off, flattening dozens of trees and shaking the earth with each hop, "Yes, I did _say_ I'd make you my henchman," his eyes narrowed, "but we didn't seal the deal over a glass of sake yet."

"DO I _LOOK_ TWENTY-ONE TO YOU?!" Naruto roared as Trunks sweatdropped.

"Yeeeeahhh thats right!" Shukaku shouted out, "I'd run from me too, if I were you, WARTFACE!"

Gamabunta stopped dead in his tracks.

"...what did you just call me?" the toad said icily, back still turned to the tanuki.

Eternal grin still plastered to his face, Shukaku eagerly repeated what he said, "Wart-freakin'-face!" He held his arms out challengingly, "What are ya' gonna do about it, huh?! HUH?!"

Gamabunta's yellow eyes went up to Naruto, "You know what, kid. I think we share a common enemy." The Chief turned to face the Ichibi, "Congratulations, you're now my henchman."

Naruto grinned in satisfaction before turning to his friend, "Trunks, I want you to do me a huge favor. Stay out of this one." The saiyan gave the outcast a questionable look, "Please, this is something I have to do alone."

The saiyan looked hesitant before he accepted, "Alright, it's your call. But if I see you need help, then I'm jumping in, whether you like it or not." He smiled.

That statement sounded familiar to the Jinchuuriki, who grinned when he remembered where it came from.

Before he moved to fly away, the son of Vegeta remembered, "I don't know if you guys can see him from here, but for whatever reason, Gaara's poking out the top of that things head."

"Yeah, I noticed too." The blonde outcast said to the toad.

"Hmmm, Ahhh, a spiritualist medium." Gamabunta said, receiving a 'huh' from Naruto. "The medium is someone who has been possessed by the Shukaku, those who are possessed by him are no longer aloud to sleep soundly, for if they do, the demon will eat away at their psyche, until the person that you once were ceases to exist."

"Thats all good and dandy," Naruto said, "but does knowing that help me get rid of this demon?"

"Actually, yes." Gamabunta said, "To put it simply, you'll wake him up."

"Wake up Gaara, huh. That seems easy." Trunks said as he turned from Naruto and gave the blonde a thumbs up, "Good luck man."

Naruto returned the gesture with one of his own, "Thanks, and just so we're clear on something, bragging rights go to _me_."

"You got it." Trunks said before jetting off of the toad's head.

"I'm WAITING!" The tanuki hollered out.

Naruto's blue eyed gaze focused on the Ichibi, bracing himself as he felt the Chief Toads legs set.

"Hang on tight, kid." Gamabunta ordered as he pulled his sword and lunged at Shukaku with blinding speed.

The toads blade pierced into the Shukaku's left shoulder with little resistance. From the close proximity, Naruto could see Gaara slouching down almost lifelessly from Shukaku's forehead; his ninjato was still sticking through the right side of the redheads chest.

The blonde jinchuuriki prepared to leap at Gaara, only before he could move, Shukaku's massive paw rose up to swipe at the toad. Gamabunta reacted quickly by leaping up and taking Shukaku's arm off with him.

If the sand-spirit felt his arm get cut off he didn't express it.

Mid-leap, Gamabunta made a sign, " **Water Style: Liquid Bullets!"**

Shukaku smacked his stomach, " **Wind Style: Air Bullets!"**

The two jutsu's collided, sending a shower of water over the forest that was the equivalent to rain.

Ino and Sakura covered their eyes while Sasuke and Trunks gazed in awe at what had turned into a kaiju battle.

Just as soon as the chief landed, Shukaku swung its tail at him, forcing him to once more jump up high into the air, "Escape this time!" Shukaku bellowed, once again spamming its favorite jutsu, " **Futon: Renkudan!"** The air caught the dust and debris that was still floating around the battlefield, making the attack dirty to look at.

Gamabunta countered, " **Suiton: Teppōdama!"**

The attacks again collided, though this time, Naruto noticed another shape quickly form from the tide of water below him; another wind sphere, "Chief, watch out!"

The sky lit with an explosion as Gamabunta took the blow head on. The massive amphibian crashed back down into the earth like a mini asteroid, picking up smoke, dirt, and shaking the land from the forests all the way into the middle of the Leaf Village.

The tanuki whooped and hollered like a cowboy in the old west, "I did it! I KILLED HIM! I KILLED HIM!"

Gamabunta bounded from the column of smoke, sword in hand, and slashed off Shukaku's other arm. "Now that kinda hurt, hit me with a couple dozen more of those and you might be getting somewhere."

Shukaku spluttered incoherently before sand burst out from his two arm stumps, quickly reforming the limbs.

Naruto, noticing the damage that was being done to the battlefield, slapped down on the toad's head to get his attention, "Hey!" He shouted. "Don't go in that direction," he pointed to the east, "my friends are that way and I don't want them to get hurt."

"Yeah yeah, your friends aren't going anywhere." Gamabunta retorted. His eyes squinted angrily at the Genin on top of him, "And if you slap my head again, I'll make sure _you're_ the one who gets hurt." Shukaku prepared another attack, "Hang on!" The air bullets shot at the two, the Chief toad charging at Shukaku in a zig-zaging movement to dodge the attacks, the air bullets leaving craters and ripped apart trees in its wake. Upon reaching the halfway mark Gamabunta made a massive leap into the sky, coming down on the demon with his arms latched onto Shukaku's shoulders.

Naruto crouched down, readying himself to jump at Gaara when the raccoon gave a hard shake, releasing himself from the toads grip. Gamabunta jumped sideways before leaping backwards, dodging a swipe from the Ichibi's claws that would have swiped his face off if connected.

"Damnit!" The teen swore. "Hey Boss, you're gonna have to hold on if you want me to get to Gaara!"

"I can't hang onto him you idiot!" Gamabunta snapped. "My body isn't built for that!"

"So what the hell do we do now!?" Naruto cried out in panic.

"Use your head you moron," Gamabunta said irritably. "We'll use a jutsu to get what we need, which for this situation, a henge should be perfect...only thing is, I've never been good with transformations." The chief looked to the teen on top of him, "So you're going to do it."

"What?! How!?"

"A combined Henge!"

"Oh... Well why didn't you say so!" Naruto grinned as he made the appropriate hand seal.

Gamabunta set to charge again, "Remember this kid, fangs and claws!" He charged at Shukaku.

Naruto closed his eyes as he focused, 'Fangs and claws...fangs and claws…' his eyes snapped open, "I got it!"

" **TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!"**

Whatever the teens were expecting when they saw Gamabunta charge at Shukaku, it wasn't for an explosion of white smoke to engulf the colossal amphibian.

Color bled from the kid's faces as the sound of a monstrous roar filled their ears.

An orange claw breached through the smoke, followed by a creature that Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino had heard countless times from stories told by their parents.

The Nine Tailed Fox.

"I-Is that the-?!" Ino started in horror.

"There's no way!" Sakura breathed.

"It...It can't be!" Sasuke said, jealousy lacing his voice.

"...holy shit." Trunks said in awe.

Shukaku gulped, "Didn't see that coming." as Gamabunta closed in on him, claws digging into his arms, and teeth filled maw chomping into his neck, holding him still.

"Alright kid, you're up!" The fox said as it released the henge, allowing Naruto to rocket above Shukaku's head.

"Hey Gaara!" The whiskered teen yelled as he drew his fist back. "Rise and shine!" His knuckles smashed into Gaara's jaw, dislocating it from the joints with a snap. The blonde skidded to a stop on the muzzle of the tanuki, grinning when he saw the redheads eyelids twitch.

"AWE, COME ON!" Shukaku cried out, mentally fading back into Gaara's subconscious, "I JUST GOT HERE!" And he was gone; leaving behind only a body that was at Gaara's control.

Gaara's eyelids snapped open when he felt the searing pain flaring all throughout the bottom half of his head. He popped his jaw back into place, barely holding back a scream of pain; he let it out by screaming at the blonde in front of him, "I will kill you, Naruto Uzumaki! I will not cease to exist!"

'Uh oh,' Gamabunta thought, 'We managed to get rid of Shukaku, but this Gaara kid still has some fight in him. And what's worse, me and Naruto have used up all of our chakra.'

"You're not gonna hurt my friends, or my village." Naruto said simply. He leveled his fist at Gaara. "For them, and my home, I swear I will stop you!"

"Friends? That's who you fight for?" Gaara asked. "We don't have friends. We're monsters that are hated by all, made outcasts in our homes." He aimed a cold glare of fury at Naruto, "We live only for ourselves, fight only for ourselves, and when its all over, we die for no one but ourselves."

"Speak for yourself," Naruto shot back; the faces of Sasuke, Trunks, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, Jiraiya, and the rest of the Rookie Ten's faces flashed through his minds eye one after the other. Orange-Red youki swirled up around his body, settling around him similarly to the aura that came with Trunks super saiyan transformation; Naruto settled only for the initial state of the kyuubi's chakra. Naruto's slitted blue eyes burned into Gaara's empty green ones. "Because I don't!" He leaped forward, Gaara barely snaring him with his sand before Naruto's fist reached his face.

Naruto grunted and struggled, just a foot away from the psycho across from him, "I've...I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!"

*WHAM*

The blonde slammed his forehead into Gaara's, hard enough to split the flesh on both their heads.

As the Shukaku's body began to crumble apart, blood began to seep down both teens faces.

"Did...did he win?" Ino asked out loud.

Gamabunta watched as Shukaku's body completely dissolved away, letting both boys fall onto the tops of a set of trees, facing each other. 'Hm, a simple headbutt huh. He's definitely not the most elegant fighter I've ever seen, but he's definitely got promise.' He made sure his sword was sheathed before turning away, "I wish I could stay to see how this ends, but I've reached my limit. Good luck, Uzumaki." The Chief vanished as well.

Gaara was in much worse shape physically than Naruto was, although they were both flat outta chakra.

The whiskered teen stared at Gaara with pity, "You know, I really do mean it, when I say the two of us...are a lot alike. We shouldn't be doing this."

For a split second, Gaara couldn't help but wonder, had he met Naruto under different circumstances...could he have called him a friend? 'No...this is who I am.' He got to his feet, Naruto doing the same.

As if reading the others mind the two boys leaped at each other, fist drawn back to strike, though only one boy had fought with his fists his whole life.

Planting his knuckles into Gaara's cheek, Naruto knocked the Ichibi jailer down to the forest floor; Gaara landing hard on his side, luckily not allowing the sword he was impaled with to do any further damage to his body.

Naruto fell and hit the ground as well, though he was able to get to his hands and knees.

'After everything he'd been through today, he still managed to beat me.' Gaara thought to himself, green eyes traveling to Naruto, 'Fighting for his friends, did that?' His fingers slowly went up to his forehead, where he bore the kanji for 'love'.

A shadow came over him, when he looked up, he saw it was Trunks, with his sword held tip down right over his face.

"Trunks!"

The saiyan looked to Naruto, the blonde being the one to call him. The jinchuuriki sat on his knees, "Don't kill him, its okay, he's no longer a threat."

Trunks glared at his friend, "We were just trying to kill each other a minute ago, now he's cool?"

Naruto smirked, "Ever get a feeling of deja-vu?"

"This guy's not like Haku, Naruto."

"No, he's not." The blonde jinchuuriki admitted, "He's like me."

The saiyan's eyes narrowed, "I'm not buyin' that."

"Believe it." Naruto said, "We come from the same place, him and me. If things had been just...a _little_ bit different in my life, I could have wound up just like him, and vice-versa.' Naruto's blue eyes traveled to Gaara, who gazed at him in wonder, "He can be different from this."

'After all that, he's...willing to show me mercy?' Gaara gaped.

Trunks hesitated, his instincts told him to get rid of a potential future enemy, but, Naruto sparing Haku had turned out to be a wise decision. He sheathed his sword, "You were right before, if you think it's a good idea, I'll back it up."

Naruto smiled, "Thanks bro." He turned to see Sakura and Ino approaching, assisting with Sasuke.

"Its...finally over?" Ino asked.

Sakura smiled to her best friend, "For us it is. We still need to see how the village is holding up."

"That's true." Sasuke said.

It was then the group saw Temari and Kankuro land down next to Gaara, the look in their eyes saying they were ready for a fight.

Trunks fingers itched to grab his sword.

"Kankuro, Temari, its over. That's enough." The sand siblings were startled to hear it was Gaara who spoke to them. When they turned to see him, the look in his eyes was...different. It was hopeful, as if a new door to his future, a door to his _life,_ had been opened to him.

'I never thought in a million years, I'd see him like this.' Kankuro thought as he went to scoop up his brother, draping his arm across his shoulders for support. He considered pulling Naruto's ninjato from his little brothers back, but that would be a whole lot worse than if they just left it in for now.

The three siblings turned to face the leaf-genin, Temari and Kankuro not really knowing what to think of this turn of events.

They vanished into the trees.

"Gaara...are you okay?" Temari asked, curiously. She half expected a threat of some kind, but surprisingly recieved an answer.

"Yeah." They bounded through the forests of Konoha in silence for a few minutes before Gaara spoke up. "Temari…Kankuro…I'm sorry."

The two exchanged surprised glances again. "Uh…don't worry about it." Kankuro said awkwardly.

XXX

Trunks draped Naruto's arm over his shoulders, assisting the knucklehead whether he liked it or not. He turned to Sakura, Ino, and Sasuke, "Let's head back."

XXX

After a long trek back to the village by foot, the teens finally entered what used to be the front gates (having been blown apart during the attack), and noticed the gruesome aftermath of the war; destroyed buildings, corpses scattered in the street, ninja weapons littering the environment, and a wave of ash and smoke in the air. Every leaf citizen had a sad and mournful look on their face, but that could have been chalked up to having lost a loved one in war; a war that was now practically over.

The teens stop was the hospital, so that Sasuke and Trunks could be taken care of. The two boys had gotten a room together to be nursed; Sakura, Ino, and Naruto sitting with them.

A commotion coming from the hallway brought the teens and doctors eyes to the door.

The saiyan smiled as he heard a voice he instantly recognized.

"Where the hell is my son?!" Bulma flung the door open, gasping when she saw Trunks' condition.

"Hey mom." The saiyan blushed as his mother ran up and practically threw his doctor to the side.

"Oh my goodness son, you look like shit." Bulma said as she touched Trunks face, noticing he was paler than usual, not even counting the numerous cuts the teen had littered on his body. Tavi and #16 walked in behind her as well.

"You all look like shit to be honest." Shinhan said.

"Yeah well, fighting a giant sand monster will do that to you." The son of Vegeta said. "How'd you two find us anyway?" He asked.

"Word travels fast in this village, son." The inventor said, stepping aside as the doctor continued his work removing Ino's amateurly applied stitch work, to instead give the saiyan prince professionally applied treatment.

No one noticed, but upon seeing Trunks' mom, a bitter and sad look crossed Sasuke's features.

Sakura looked to Naruto, "We should find Kakashi-sensei and tell him everything that happened." She said, Naruto nodding in approval.

"You won't have to look far." The Jonin said as he walked through the door.

Naruto was about to happily greet his jonin, only, when he and everyone saw the sullen and mournful look in his eye, they knew something was wrong.

"Is everything alright sensei?" Sakura asked.

The silver haired jonin waited a second to answer, before he did,

"No… Lord Hokage, is dead."

XXX

A/N: It's been forever, but I'm back. The Konoha Crush saga is over.

Me being a college student, combined with working full time over my summer break, means my free-time to write will be compromised for the foreseable future, BUT, this story WILL NOT BE ABANDONED, that's a promise.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, until next time!


	26. Wake

A/N: Now for some filler.

XXX

Three days had passed since the Battle for Konoha.

The Leaf citizens hadn't had time to completely put their village back together; the walls were still breached, some buildings were still in ruins, and the streets were still a mess.

Today though, nobody bothered to work.

Every single citizen; shinobi or civilian, present in the village was to attend the funeral of the Third Hokage.

As if the heavens themselves weeped the loss of a great man, it rained.

All attending the funeral were outfitted in black attire, and held a white flower in hand. The youngest of the village were closest to the shrine made out to Sarutobi; the youngest including the Konoha Thirteen. Trunks and the rest of Team 7 met up to attend the funeral together; even standing side by side to mourn. Tavi and Bulma stood behind the saiyan during the service.

Moving at once, the Konoha Thirteen walked up to place a flower upon the shrine that had dozens of other flowers placed in front of a picture of Hiruzen; all thinking back to the fond memories they'd had with the old man when they were children; Shikamaru and Choji running from him when they were caught skipping class, Ino and Sakura collecting flowers with him when they were little girls, Sasuke having him be there for him after Itachi murdered his entire family, Naruto having him be there when he had no family, and, while Trunks didn't share those same childhood memories, he acknowledged that the old man had been nothing but kind to him when he and his mother wound up in this village. Hiruzen could have easily sent Bulma and Trunks out on their asses but he didn't, he made them family within' the village. He couldn't be more grateful.

He laid his flower down next to Naruto's.

As he moved to stand back in his row, he noticed Yugao and Hayate standing side-by-side amidst the other jonin. He felt relieved that they survived the invasion.

A thought lingered in the saiyans mind for the rest of the service; he fought Orochimaru during the exams. If he'd managed to defeat Orochimaru during their battle in the forest of death, the fight between the Sannin and Sarutobi wouldn't have happened, and the old man would still be alive.

Or maybe, had he not been involved in this world at all things would be no different.

Maybe some things he just couldn't change.

XXX

While the Leaf continued with the funeral service, on the other side of the world, outside of the usual system of hidden villages, a meeting was being held. This meeting was held within' a dark and dank underground cave. Those attending the meeting wore identical black cloaks with blood red clouds designed and patterned around on the material. Overlooking the gathering, was a grotesque looking statue that the Akatsuki used for ripping the Bijuu from its host; where the beast would be kept until the time was right to unleash it. Out of the nine eyes on the statue, one for each of the demons, only a couple were open right at that moment.

Ironically, none of the members attended the gathering in person, only making themselves present through projected holograms they cast from all corners of the world they occupied for that time.

"The Leaf has been weakened," The leader said, purple ringed eyes scanning the seven other members present, before they stopped at a certain sharingan wielding member.

Unlike Kakashi Hatake or Sasuke Uchiha, who would only activate their sharingan during battle, this individual kept his sharingan active almost all the time.

The leader continued, "Itachi, this would be a perfect opportunity to capture the nine tails, would you agree?"

A response was a long time coming, but the other members knew that Itachi was a thinking man who would give a reasonable answer, "No. Not yet."

"Your reasons?" The leader asked.

Itachi continued, "Over the past six or seven months Kisame and I have heard tales about a boy that appeared in the Leaf and took refuge. A boy named Trunks Briefs."

"Weird name." A nin with long blond hair drawn into a ponytail said. If one looked at his hands, they would see a tongue in the palm of them. "And why do we care?"

"Let me continue," Itachi said, "this boy has been said to use Ki."

That got everyone interested.

"Nonsense." Kakuzu said dismissively, "Ki as a source of energy hasn't been used in a millennia. Humans as a species have practically _evolved_ to the use of Chakra. Ki users would have to be extinct at this point in time."

"I couldn't care less for how things are _supposed_ to be." Kisame said, "If dozens of people from around the world are saying the exact same thing I'll believe it."

"Fine then," Deidara started, "even if he uses ki he's still a damn kid." Itachi spoke up before Deidara even finished.

"A kid who toyed with Zabuza Momochi, the One-tail, and fought Orochimaru evenly."

"Orochimaru, Zabuza, seriously?" Deidara shook his head, "You're wasting our time Itachi."

The leader raised his hand, "No. Itachi may have reason to be concerned. I want to hear why."

So Itachi continued, "He also possesses a kekkai-genkai that makes him stronger. By how much, we don't know, but he's been described as toying with Jonin just as easily as we can, without it. And as far as I'm concerned, his use of Ki could make him immune to Genjutsu, which gives him an advantage over me, and it could make him immune to Kisame's chakra absorption, which could give the boy a significant advantage over him."

"That sounds like a problem for you, maybe," Kakuzu said, "If you fear the boy that much, I'll go after the Nine Tails myself."

"Same." Hidan said, "He sounds like an annoyance to me."

"Perhaps he is," Itachi said, "all I insist is that I take time to dig-up more information on the kid before I risk confrontation in his own home."

"That's fair." The leader said, "Fortunately none of us are in a rush as of yet, take time to find any information needed."

Itachi and Kisame nodded.

Then, everyone vanished, the members returning to whatever their duties were at the time.

XXX

*3 days Later*

When the son of Vegeta woke up early that morning, the last thing he expected was to be summoned to a meeting with the village elders. He walked to the building that once belonged to the Hokage, intercepting Shikamaru on the way to the front entrance door.

As the two walked down the hallway, the saiyan turned to the slacker in question, "You know what this meeting's about?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance, "Hell if I know, it's too damn early for a meeting anyways." He slouched and mumbled, "Such a drag."

They approached the door, Trunks opening it to see the elders; Homura, Koharu, and Danzo sitting in a set of chairs facing the two Genin. Kakashi, Asuma, Anko, Ibiki, and Genma were present for said meeting as well.

The leader for Team 7 gave Trunks an eye smile, "Nice of you to join us Trunks, you too Shikamaru."

Nara looked to his Jonin who gave him an approving nod, taking notice that this was one of the few times he saw the man without a cigarette in his mouth.

Homura was the first elder to speak to the two, "Thank you for joining us; Trunks-kun, Shikamaru-kun. Due to your performance in the Chunin exams, and in your case Trunks-kun, the invasion, we would be honored to grant you both the promotion to Chunin."

Both teens eyes widened in surprise.

Trunks was about to show gratitude, but a question popped up in his mind, "Why only us?" He asked, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you're honoring us, but there are other candidates who did just as well as I did, especially Naruto."

Kakashi didn't voice it, but he agreed with his student 100%.

Koharu spoke this time, "Due to the invasion it was almost decided that no one at all would receive a promotion. But, in Shikamaru's case," She looked at the slacker, "the Third showed a great admiration for your match, and his intentions were to have you promoted."

Shikamaru nodded his response.

The old lady turned to Trunks, "And in your case Trunks-kun, your power, abilities, and pragmatism in battle have convinced us to promote you."

"In regards to Naruto," Danzo said, speaking for the first time, "he has not displayed a temperament or intellect that is fitting of a chunin. So he will not be promoted."

The saiyans eyes traveled to Kakashi, who shook his head as a sign of saying, 'Just accept it.'

"...alright." The saiyan said.

Trunks and Shikamaru left the room with Chunin vests in their hands.

"You were right." Nara said, making Trunks turn to him questionably. "You heard that lame-ass excuse the elders gave for not promoting Naruto. You can tell those old bags have it out for him."

"Yeah." Trunks nodded, 'It must be because of what's in Naruto.' He thought.

As the two walked out of the building, they were greeted with their senseis waiting for them.

"Congratulations you two." Kakashi said as he patted Trunks' shoulder.

"Thanks," Shikamaru said as he turned to Asuma, "lemme guess, we're celebrating?"

Trunks looked to Kakashi, wondering the same question.

Asuma spoke up for the silver haired jonin, "Well, _my_ team's definitely going out for barbeque later. You Kakashi?"

"We'll definitely celebrate." The silver-haired jonin told Trunks, "but first, me and Asuma have business to take care of."

"That's right." Asuma said as he and Kakashi turned to leave their genin turned Chunin.

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "See ya 'round Briefs. I'm getting back to my bed." He said as he turned and walked away from the saiyan.

The demi-saiyan, being left alone, turned to head back home, intent on telling Tavi and Bulma the good news first. He'd let Kakashi be the one to surprise the rest of Team 7 with the news. It was actually a good thing they'd be meeting up later, the prince had actually had a surprise in store for them, completely unrelated to his promotion.

As he began walking, a voice called out to him, "Trunks Briefs."

The saiyan turned to the person who sang out to him, quirking an eyebrow as he did,

"Danzo?"

The bandaged elder approached the teen, who, for good reason, was bewildered that one of the village heads would have something to say to him in private.

"Can I...help you with something?" The saiyan said awkwardly.

Danzo spoke to the saiyan with an expected tone of superiority in his voice, "I simply wanted to give my congrats to you personally, and to thank you for your services to this village."

"Oh...well thanks." Trunks said, still awkwardly.

"And,"

'Oh boy,' the saiyan thought, not liking where this was going.

"I would like to give you an offer that transcends your Chunin promotion." the one eyed elder said

' _I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse.'_ The saiyan mocked Danzo in his head. How cliche.

"I want you to join my organization of special ninja, Root." The old man said, going straight to the point. Expecting confusion from the young teen, Danzo continued, "You would be carrying out missions that will strictly benefit the village, going beyond what some random dignitary or insignificant civilian would hire you for." He left it at that in case Trunks turned him down.

"Sounds nice." Trunks said, a hint of interest in his tone, "But what's the catch? Would I still be on Team 7?"

The bandaged man shook his head, "Unfortunately not, to be a member of Root you would have to show a complete and total devotion to the organization, but the reward is-" Trunks cut him off by shaking his head.

"Sorry, but no. Team 7 is family to me. I'm flattered you want me to join your 'special group' or whatever, but I'm not leaving my family behind for it."

Danzo lowered his head and closed his only remaining eye, "That is unfortunate, but understandable. If you ever wish to reconsider, the option is open to you Trunks-kun."

The saiyan nodded, and although on the surface Danzo seemed content and accepting of his choice, Trunks could feel a wave of malice radiating from the older man. He turned and flew off.

XXX

Kakashi and Asuma wordlessly walked down the halls of the Konoha intelligence division, intent on meeting Anko and Ibiki within' the room assigned to the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force, of which the latter two belonged.

Upon reaching said room, the two elite jonin entered to see that it was darkened, with Anko and Ibiki standing side by side with a shadowed individual sitting at a desk in the center of the room.

"Kakashi, Asuma, it's about time you slowpokes made it." Anko said upon seeing the other jonin.

"Do you...not know me by now?" Kakashi genuinely asked, making Anko sweatdrop.

Asuma turned to Ibiki, "So, who're we playing 20 questions with?"

The interrogator held his hand out to the shadowed individual, "I think you can recognize this rat from the Chunin Exams,"

"Dosu Kinuta, of the Sound Village." Kakashi finished for him.

Dosu wordlessly glared at the silver haired jonin.

Anko stepped up beside Kakashi, all four of the jonin staring down Dosu, who's sound speaker was removed from his right arm and his wrists cuffed. "Surprisingly, this bastard never fought during the invasion. He surrendered himself over the second the attack started." Orochimaru's failed student shrugged, "He says he's turned against Orochi-bastard, and he can prove it." She walked up behind Dosu and smacked him on the back of the head, "Tell the nice men what you told me and Ibiki, mummy boy."

The ex-Sound shinobi's one eye continued to glare icily at the leaf-jonin in front of him, "I know the location of Orochimaru's hideouts. All of them. I can give them to you in exchange for asylum in the village."

Asuma gave him an unconvinced look, "One of Orochi-bastards dogs turning against him...not unusual," his eyes flickered to Anko for a second, "but why so sudden?"

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed, "seems a little convenient for you to turncoat during a Suna-oto invasion." He got up closer to Dosu, the three foot metal desk being the only thing separating the two, "Cut the crap, you couldn't give a damn about this village, you just wanna save your own ass. What did Orochimaru do to wrong you?"

The sound-nin closed his eye for a few long seconds before speaking, "That bastard sent me and my team on a suicide mission; a fight with Sasuke after he'd been marked. Then during the invasion, he used them as sacrifices for the reincarnation jutsu." His glared right into Kakashi's eye as he said, "I could've gone anywhere. I could've left during the attack, gone to the sand and told them it was Orochimaru who killed the Kazekage, but I didn't. I stood down and came to you."

The four jonin took a second to think about what they'd heard, and just how genuine Dosu could've been. Kakashi decided to test him.

At a wall in the room hung a map of the elemental nations. The Jonin of Team 7 ripped it down before roughly setting it down on the desk. He cut the bonds from Dosu's wrists with a kunai, before using that same kunai to draw blood from his palm, coating the tip of the blade with his blood.

"You said you know Orochimaru's bases, how many are there?" Kakashi asked as he set the bloodied kunai in front of Dosu.

"Five." The ex-Oto-nin said.

"Then mark them." Kakashi said, nodding down to the kunai.

Dosu did as he was told, using the red liquid as a form of ink to spot out several areas across the world.

Kakashi took the map and handed it to Anko, keeping his eye trained on Dosu, "And Anko-chan here better confirm at least one."

It was a complete bluff. The odds that Orochimaru would keep _any_ of the same bases he had when Anko was his student were laughably bad. Especially since she could have and _would_ have told the Hokage about them a long time ago.

But Anko acted like she was studying the map, while Kakashi, Asuma, and Ibiki studied Dosu for even the slightest inkling of deception.

"Yup." Anko started after about three minutes of 'scanning', catching the attention of the other jonin's, "It's legit."

Asuma turned to Dosu, "Alright then, you managed to save your ass."

"And since we're lacking a Kage at the moment, we'll make the call of keeping you in the village. For now." Kakashi said, "You will be under 24/7 Anbu surveillance. You will not leave the village for any reason. At night you will sleep in this building, in a cell. Understood?"

"Yeah." Dosu said.

Kakashi ripped the Sound Headband from the bandaged teens forehead.

Asuma nodded to Anko and Ibiki, "You'll go with them to report to the elders."

Ibiki roughly grabbed the ex-sound nin by his shoulders, he and Anko forcing him out of the room.

Kakashi looked to Asuma, "Your thoughts?"

"I don't trust him, you don't trust him." Sarutobi sat on the desktop, "Regardless, it shouldn't be our call what happens to him, and it shouldn't be the elders call either."

Kakashi sighed, "Yeah. But if those hideouts are real, we know where Orochimaru may be resting his head. Him having dead arms means he's about as damaged as this village is right now."

The jonin of team 10 nodded, before changing the subject, "That machine," Asuma started, Kakashi instantly knowing he meant #16, "You saw what that thing was capable of during the invasion." The jonin got a faraway look in his eye, a sign he was remembering events much too recent, "That thing managed to wipe out at least 3 dozen enemy nin in less than four minutes. It took the time it would have took to push back the invaders and cut it in half, maybe more than that. Imagine what it could do if we put it in the battlefield."

Kakashi shook his head, "The android only really takes orders from Tavi-chan. Unless we had her pal around with it on missions all the time,"

"She's pretty much on Gai's team now, right? We can figure something out." Asuma said, "There's no way in hell we can have something like that just sitting around the village without putting it to use."

Kakashi nodded, "That's the truth. Anyways, it's time I gather my team." He gave Asuma an eye-smile, "It's time for us to celebrate."

XXX

Team 7 gathered at a local park, Kakashi being the one to round up all of his students. They sat at a picnic table, happily celebrating the saiyan of their teams promotion.

"So are you gonna get your own team to lead?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"You aren't gonna be, you know, leaving us are you?" Sakura asked nervously.

Trunks shrugged, "Maybe every once in awhile. But Team 7's where I belong. I'm not going anywhere." He wore his Chunin vest.

Sasuke wasn't gonna make a scene, but the fact that Trunks made it to Chunin rank before he did made him feel some kind of way. Perhaps his facial expressions showed his displeasure, because he felt Kakashi place a hand on his shoulder and give it a slight shake; a gesture that was supposed to cheer him up.

Trunks spoke up again, "I do wanna thank you guys for being there for me, all this time." Everyone went quiet to listen to him, "Throughout my whole life, I haven't had a whole lot of people I could call family. I had my mother, Tavi, and Gohan. Now, since coming here, I have you guys, who I consider my family as well. Naruto and Sasuke, who I look at as brothers, Sakura, who is like a sister to me,"

Sakura screamed in her head, 'Sister? SISTER!? ONLY A SISTER?! SON OF A BIT-'

"And Kakashi," Trunks continued, "who actually reminds me of Gohan."

"You mention Gohan a lot," Naruto said, "I know he was your master, but what was he like exactly?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, "I'd like to know about him too."

They didn't voice it, but Kakashi and Sasuke were also curious to know what the man who trained Trunks had to have been like.

Trunks looked up as memories, both good and bad filled his mind, "He was serious, stern, aggressive, and he had a good heart above all else. He took me under his wing when I was scared and weak and he saved my life more times than I could count. When it came to protecting innocents, he wouldn't give up, even after he'd lost his arm to the androids." The saiyans face became downcast, "His need to save people is what did him in."

Kakashi nodded, "He sounds like a true hero. He'd make for a fine shinobi if he was still alive."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the group.

A smile crossed Trunks mouth, "I'm really glad we all got to meet up like this though. Because there's something else I need to tell you about."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Well," Trunks started, "I think there's a way I can teach you all how to fly."

"How?!" Sasuke exclaimed, surprisingly beating Naruto to the punch.

Naruto got excited, "No way, are you for real?!"

"But, I thought you couldn't fly with chakra." Sakura said.

"Not exactly," Kakashi corrected, "The tsuchikage can fly."

"Yeah, with gravity manipulation. Which only he can use." Sasuke said dismissively, his eyes focused on Trunks, "I'm assuming Trunks learned something about Chakra that even we don't know."

Trunks nodded, "The thing is, you won't be using chakra exactly. You'll be using a kind of variant of ki."

Que baffled looks from the rest of Team 7, which the saiyan expected.

"Let me explain, my mom did a lot of research regarding chakra, and she learned that regardless of a shinobi's body having adapted to the use of chakra, there's a fragment of ki that, metaphorically, sits above the surface of your chakra. Think of it like soapy dishwater." He explained, "There's the soap and water that's well mixed together, that being chakra, but at the surface, you have the bubbles formed from the soap. You can call it… surface ki."

Naruto got giddy, "So with surface ki we could-"

"You won't be firing any ki blasts," Trunks interrupted, "But you may be able to fly, move at higher speeds, augment your muscles and chakra attacks, make yourself more durable, and even use the kiai."

Sasuke's eyes brightened. This was definitely something he could use against Itachi. "How do we get it?!" He asked, borderline desperately.

"You train for it." Trunks said, "Like anyone who wants to use ki." He grinned, "You just gotta want it. And I'm more than ready to train you guys."

While his genin looked like they had ants in their pants, Kakashi kept his cool exterior. But on the inside, he was excited. 'Guess the student becomes the master.' The silver haired jonin thought. He looked to Trunks,

"When do we start?"

XXX

A/N: Chapter end. Now, Trunks is a Chunin, Dosu is still alive, and Team 7 (with the inclusion of some other shinobi) will be learning about surface ki, something that me and SparkinClark came up with as a way of teaching the Naruto characters ki...to an extent.

Anywayssss, that's it for now!

Until next time!


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